8-22-06, 9:21 am

A day after four US service members were killed in Iraq and dozens of Iraqis killed in bloody sectarian violence, President Bush yesterday again described leaving Iraq as a 'huge mistake.' He also denounced people who describe the violent situation in Iraq as civil war.

According to US media reports, gunmen killed at least one person and wounded five others after they opened fire on a crowd in Aden Square on Sunday in northern Baghdad. In another Baghdad neighborhood, three Iraqi soldiers were killed and two others were wounded in an exchange of gunfire with gunmen believed to be affiliated with sectarian militias. In and near the central Iraqi city of Baquba, at least six more people were killed in sectarian gun battles.

Snipers shot and killed at least 20 Shiite pilgrims and wounded as many as 10 others in Baghdad gathered in that city to celebrate a holy day for the Shia sect. Hundreds more were injured in the rush to get away from the gunfire.

The attacks took place as the Shiite visitors paraded through mainly Sunni occupied areas of Baghdad, leading most observers to believe the violence was sectarian. The killings also took place under heavy coordinated security that included both US military and Iraqi military and police forces, along with curfews and driving bans in parts of Baghdad designed to limit the violence.

In the past month, Iraqi officials estimate that more than 100 people have been killed each day. July saw over 3,500 people killed in Iraq in sectarian violence.

As of Monday 2,611 US military service members have been killed in Iraq, and 19,323 have been wounded. Experts on mental health estimate that many tens of thousands more current and returning service members have been traumatized mentally by the war, and will in many ways bring the war home with them.

The website IraqBodyCount.org, basing its estimates on carefully scrutinized media reports, reports that as many as 45,144 Iraqi civilians have been killed as a result of the war.

To date, more than $308 billion has been spent on the war in Iraq, fuelling massive US budget deficits and onerous cuts to social services.

Still Iraq remains violent. Much of its territory continues to go without basic services such as electricity, water, and health care. Violence prevents the return of viable economic activity in many populated areas, fueling a 58% unemployment rate.

Despite the presence of 140,000 US troops and many hundreds of thousands of Iraqi troops, promised security has not been delivered.

Before the 'benevolent' destruction of Iraqi society by the US occupation forces, Iraqis did not turn on one another in the way they do now. The US occupation authorities have created a system in which groups are encouraged to compete for power.

Fears of political fallout due to US military casualties, the Bush administration has shifted more security responsibility to an Iraqi military and police kept ill equipped and under the thumb of US military authorities. Indeed, 'Iraqification' hasn't so far been a meaningful step toward sovereignty. The Bush administration isn't ready to let go of its failed war in Iraq.

'Iraqification' of the war has also failed to provide security and to ease sectarian violence.

But this crisis hasn't been created by unknown people with unknown motives. It isn't inevitable. What is the solution to this paradox? A timetable for withdrawal and the return of full sovereignty to Iraq are the only starting points for stemming the tide of civil war and sectarian violence. This is evidenced by the fact that in some places without any US occupation forces around, local governments are operating smoothly, violence is non-existent, and people are living closer to normal lives than in places where US forces are heavily fortified.

Because Bush has stubbornly stuck to his failed policy, it is up to the American people to turn to Congress to block his bankrupt plans and end the war.

Bush and his waning Republican supporters in Congress accuse those who are demanding an end to the war of 'cutting and running.' This silly, but dangerous argument cuts against the will of the majority of Americans who, which according to the latest polls number 60%, want the occupation to end.

We will have to vote for congressional candidates willing to stand up and hold their Republican opponents and the Bush administration accountable for the failures and dangers of the Iraq war. Voters will have to install a new Congress that can stem the tide of cash into this war that has never been feasible and demand a timetable for withdrawal.

We can't afford to do otherwise.



--Reach Joel Wendland at