As I type, I hear Anthony Cordesman saying, on NPR, that we have destabilized the Middle East. And I'm thinking: after all the blood shed and yakkety-yak and self-justification and shouting and name-calling and threats of being called unpatriotic, many of us are sighing and saying, "Just what we expected, all along."
What are "the facts on the ground"? Here are some from today's New York Times:
The country's economy continues to disappoint. Although it had a fairly quick recovery in 2003 and early 2004, when gross domestic product was restored to Saddam Hussein-era levels, violence and instability have prevented much further progress. And while subsidies for gasoline and some other goods, which have been costing the Iraqi government about $10 billion a year, or a third of gross domestic product, have been reduced, projections that the country's economy will grow by 10 percent a year for the rest of the decade look increasingly suspect. Current growth sputters along at less than 5 percent despite sky-high prices for oil exports. Most utilities (except telephones and Internet services) are still performing below Baathist-era levels. Unemployment remains very high.
Politically, Iraqis have been stalemated in forming a new government since the impressive Dec. 15 elections, primarily over issues like ensuring fair distribution of Iraq's oil revenue and devising ways to reintegrate lower-level former Baathists into society. This political inertia reinforces the widespread Sunni Arab sense of estrangement. And it contributes to remarkably high levels of Sunni Arab approval for violence against coalition troops (almost 90 percent) and even against their own government.
And nothing like apology or even acknowledgement of a cruel failure on the part of the perps.
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