Powell's fruitless mission

[The Crazy Canadian]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1272923,00.html

Powell's fruitless mission

The Americans should be getting out of Iraq, not flying in - only then might the country's pride be healed and the violence end, writes Jonathan Steele.

Friday July 30, 2004

Colin Powell's trip to Baghdad could hardly have come at a more disappointing time for his government and his Iraqi allies. With John Kerry newly energised for the upcoming election battle against George Bush, the secretary of state visits a beleaguered Iraqi capital where the US administration's policies are in ruins.
Security is as bad now as it was when Washington handed limited sovereignty to Iraqis a month ago. Hopes that the advent of an Iraqi government would lead to a reduction in resistance have been dashed.

....

They say they want to wait for the elections due in January. Only then will Iraq have a parliament and a government that Iraqis, rather than the Americans, will have chosen.

Whether that would necessarily end the violence can only be guessed, but the message from most Iraqis is one of national pride. They want to be left to solve their own problems with their own forces. Relying on foreigners, whether they be Americans, Arabs or other Muslims, is not the answer.