What’s After the Light at the End of the Tunnel?
There have been some reports in the last week quoting US commanders as saying that they were close to “turning the corner” in defeating the resistance. These reports have recurred every couple of months since the summer. (Before that, you may recall, the story was that to call what was happening in Iraq a “resistance” was a wild exaggeration.)
Comes today’s report that
Violence by insurgents in Iraq will escalate in the run-up to a handover of sovereignty, according to the top US general in the region.
General John Abizaid, head of US Central Command covering Iraq and Afghanistan, said Islamic militants and Baathists were the main threat.
“There are an awful lot of people that don’t want an Iraqi sovereign entity… to emerge,” he said.
Now let’s be clear: after the capture of Saddam, some people predicted there would be a “spasm” of increased violence, a kind of last stand before the resistance petered out. Despite the rise in US combat deaths since Saddam was arrested, it’s too soon to say that’s not what’s happening. But there seem to be an awful lot of corners to turn.
