Breaking news! The Washington Post has located more anonymous officials in Washington who are wringing their hands about how unprepared and clueless we are in the effort to win the peace in Iraq. Sounds like the same cadre who were convinced we couldn't win the war. Maybe they're right, but maybe it's just a difficult, fluid situation and that's what we expected. (Adaptablity is a strength, not a fatal weakness.) Note that, despite this being a Page One story, the only named sources are two "former" officials quoted in the last paragraphs. "Journalism?"
As Iraqi Shiite demands for a dominant role in Iraq's future mount, Bush administration officials say they underestimated the Shiites' organizational strength and are unprepared to prevent the rise of an anti-American, Islamic fundamentalist government in the country. The burst of Shiite power -- as demonstrated by the hundreds of thousands who made a long-banned pilgrimage to the holy city of Karbala yesterday -- has U.S. officials looking for allies in the struggle to fill the power vacuum left by the downfall of Saddam Hussein.
Posted by Alan at April 22, 2003 10:02 PM