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April 18, 2004
The Deepening Quag

Contrast the following lead from the Washington Post yesterday with what we've been told over and over again by the president and his people about the situation in Iraq.

In the space of two weeks, a fierce insurgency in Iraq has isolated the U.S.-appointed civilian government and stopped the American-financed reconstruction effort, as contractors hunker down against waves of ambushes and kidnappings, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.

The events have also pressured U.S. forces to vastly expand their area of operations within Iraq, while triggering a partial collapse of the new Iraqi security services designed to gradually replace them.

The crisis, which has stirred support for the insurgents across both Sunni and Shiite communities, has also inflamed tensions between Arabs and Kurds.

source

Words like, "fierce insurgency," "isolated the U.S.," "waves of ambushes and kidnappings," "pressured U.S. forces," "partial collapse of ... security services," " support for the insurgents across both Sunni and Shiite communities," and "inflamed tensions between Arabs and Kurds," are particularly striking.

This is hardly a picture of some "lawlessness and gangs," as the president would have us believe. According to this assessment, we are not moving forward, but the escalating violence has brought the "reconstruction of Iraq to a near-halt."

These statements are coming from commanders and contractors on the ground, not from people running for reelection based almost entirely on their record in this war. Believe who you will.

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