Iraq Article

Totten in Iraq.

In conclusion:

Iraq is still a mess, even so. Iraq is dysfunctional. Iraq is corrupt. Iraq is riven by racial and sectarian hatreds between Arabs and Kurds and between Sunnis and Shias. Each race and sect are further divided against each other by tribe. Revolutionary Iranians still muck around with Iraq's internal politics, and many Iraqis will continue to let them. Religious fundamentalists coexist precariously with Iraqi secularists and women who resent having to wear the hijab over their hair so they won't be targeted by the radicals. Even some Christian women in Baghdad feel compelled to wear the hijab. The only people in the country who seem interested in cleaning up the garbage still clogging the streets are Americans, and they're on their way out. Iraq will always be Iraq, whether a terrorist regime takes over or not. It will be a while before it's a place you will want to visit.

At this point, though, it's unlikely that the United States will fight another war in Iraq. Michael Yon is almost certainly right about that. A large number of Iraqis want American troops to leave, but most of them are not our enemies. Very few shoot at American troops anymore. Even fewer have any interest in attacking Americans in the United States. Roadside bombs are rare enough now that I no longer worry about them when riding in Humvees with American soldiers. The Iraqi Army and Iraq Police conduct joint operations and patrols with Americans. If Iraq were an enemy state, or if the various insurgent and terrorist groups were still widely supported by Iraqi civilians, the steep decline in violence over the past two years would never have happened.

Whatever happens next is up to Iraqis. It may or may not be pretty, but the days when Iraq is a lethal threat to anyone outside its borders most likely are over.