It's time to consider withdrawing the troops (Japanese editorial)

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On Tuesday it will have been a year since U.S. and British occupation forces handed over sovereignty to Iraq. Still, bombings and attacks by insurgents occur on a near-daily basis. Random attacks have even targeted restaurants filled with families.

Last week, a remote-controlled bomb went off as a Ground Self-Defense Force convoy from Samawah was passing. Fortunately, nobody was injured and there was only slight damage to one of the vehicles.

Local police believe SDF troops were specifically targeted. Until now, Samawah had been considered relatively safe. Residents have been friendly to Japanese troops. This latest incident suggests that the situation in Iraq is deteriorating.

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200506270089.html

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1. This is a damning condemnation of Bush Administration...

...bungling and ineptitude that goes far beyond domestic politics. Japan is our most staunch Asian ally, and Asahi Shimbun is its most influential newspaper. Here is the pivotal quote from the full article:

It is increasingly evident that the strategy to build a democratic Iraq, while foreign troops are battling resistance forces, is failing. Priority should be placed on allowing the Iraqi people to reconstruct their country.

In other words, it is overwhelmingly obvious that the Bush Administration is not only incompetent but -- in its vicious indifference to working peoples (including the soldiers of the U.S. and its allies) -- is now running up the casualty lists merely to defend its arrogant stupidity.