I guess Bush is just a cockeyed optimist
Postwar violence threatens Iraq stability, U.S. resolve
Fri Mar 19, 9:29 AM ET
One year after the start of the war in Iraq, only a cockeyed optimist would feel entirely good about its aftermath. The violence still plaguing the country was tragically illustrated this week by bombings in Baghdad and Basra, which claimed more than 10 lives.
Important progress is evident. Saddam Hussein is in custody awaiting trial. The adoption of a provisional constitution and plans for elections next year show a political system sputtering to life. The country's economic lifeblood - oil - slowly is coming back on tap. Roads, schools and health clinics are being rebuilt.
Yet those achievements are overshadowed by an insurgency that has proved to be more determined and widespread than U.S. military planners had anticipated before the war. As of today, the first anniversary of the invasion, the U.S. military toll stands at more than 560 deaths and 3,000 injured. Fatalities are averaging more than 40 a month since last May, when President Bush declared major combat operations over.
