Losing the War in iraq

The New York Times reports today that U.S. military forces have conceded that rebels control large portions of iraq. Fighting rages in parts of Baghdad while the U.S. has largely pulled out of the cities in the "Sunni Triangle." Ramadi, Falluja, Baquba and Samarra are rebel strongholds where loyalty to Saddam Hussein remains high. Meanwhile, escalated violence has led to more U.S. deaths. By the time you read this, the 1000th American will have been killed in this second Persian Gulf war.

Even by the yardstick of military strategy, these facts question whether the U.S. is losing the war in iraq. The country is looking more like Afghanistan, where warlords (many ex-Taliban) run most of the country. The president of Afghanistan is more like a mayor, his control is largely limited to the capital city. Osama bin Laden remains free almost three years after 9/11. The hope that the U.S. might win the hearts of the Afghan people is long forgotten. Will this be the situation in iraq two years from now.

Cynics contact us regularly with long emails about how nonviolence isn't a practical political stategy because it just doesn't work. But are these wars working? Is the world any safer from terrorism than it was a few years ago?