A glimmer of hope

It’s possible to believe, passionately even, that the U.S. occupation of Iraq is one of the most misguided and incompetently managed overseas actions this country has ever taken and yet hope that this week’s transition to limited Iraqi sovereignty is a step toward the goal of a peaceful, democratic and pluralistic nation.

Getting there won’t be easy. Iraq is a wreck, perhaps more so after a year of occupation than it was before the invasion. Electricity is sporadic, water supplies chancy, phone service spotty. The huge infusion of American dollars has done little to better the situation, and of course security is almost non-existent. Thousands of weapons—assault rifles, surface-to-air missiles, rocket-propelled grenades—that were cached around the country before the invasion remain at large and, in many cases, in the hands of insurgents.

And the country is still riven by tribal and sectarian divisions. The Kurds in the north, who have enjoyed relative autonomy for more than a decade, are wary of the majority Shi’ites in the south, and the Shi’ites resent the Sunnis who, under Saddam Hussein, brutally oppressed them for decades. It’s a volatile mix that may yet explode, particularly under the pressure brought to bear by Iran- and al-Qaeda-backed insurgents seeking to create a Taliban-style theocracy in Iraq.

Only time will tally the long-term expense-benefit ratio of the invasion. Short-term it has clearly been costly, not only financially but also by way of increased terrorism, loss of international respect for the United States and, most important, human lives, American and Iraqi—with no end in sight. All we can hope is that eventually something positive emerges from this disaster.