U.S. Occupation of Iraq Entering Critical Phase: "The policy of "Iraqification" involves training Iraqi military and security forces in order to have them replace U.S. forces; the intent is that Iraqis will eventually fight Iraqis for the interests of the U.S. government. Yet there is no reason to believe that this policy will be any more successful than it was in Vietnam."

"The continued inability to pacify Iraq will lead to a failure of U.S. objectives in the country and in the region as a whole. One of the main U.S. objectives in Iraq is to create a viable Iraqi government that has the support of the Iraqi people but that will also be congruent with U.S. interests in the Middle East. It is not clear if this objective is still possible. Noah Feldman, a New York University law professor who served as a consultant to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, warned London's Daily Telegraph that 'any democratically elected Iraqi government is unlikely to be secular, unlikely to be pro-Israel, and frankly, moderately unlikely to be pro-American.'

"Feldman's statement points to one of the most fundamental dilemmas the Bush administration faces: that a democratic Iraq may be an Iraq unfriendly to America. Furthermore, it highlights the difficulty that Washington is discovering in finding an Iraqi government that supports U.S. interests while also garnering the support of the Iraqi people -- a situation that Washington never managed to accomplish in Vietnam."

This analysis is accurate enough, but it takes at face value Washington's assertion that it seeks to establish 'democracy' in Iraq. One needs to look at the record rather than simply believing Administration rhetoric. US interests dictate an Iraqi client state or puppet regime, a dependent tyranny (called a 'democracy' by the US Administration and media). But the decision to abolish the Baath party and the Iraqi Army has left the US without an indigenous security apparatus to suppress the population and control the country. Hence ultimate failure may be inevitable from that moment on. This PINR report does not mention the decision to sack the army, but that has already been pointed out by others as the US' biggest mistake.

U.S. Occupation of Iraq Entering Critical Phase: "The policy of "Iraqification" involves training Iraqi military and security forces in order to have them replace U.S. forces; the intent is that Iraqis will eventually fight Iraqis for the interests of the U.S. government. Yet there is no reason to believe that this policy will be any more successful than it was in Vietnam."

"The continued inability to pacify Iraq will lead to a failure of U.S. objectives in the country and in the region as a whole. One of the main U.S. objectives in Iraq is to create a viable Iraqi government that has the support of the Iraqi people but that will also be congruent with U.S. interests in the Middle East. It is not clear if this objective is still possible. Noah Feldman, a New York University law professor who served as a consultant to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, warned London's Daily Telegraph that 'any democratically elected Iraqi government is unlikely to be secular, unlikely to be pro-Israel, and frankly, moderately unlikely to be pro-American.'

"Feldman's statement points to one of the most fundamental dilemmas the Bush administration faces: that a democratic Iraq may be an Iraq unfriendly to America. Furthermore, it highlights the difficulty that Washington is discovering in finding an Iraqi government that supports U.S. interests while also garnering the support of the Iraqi people -- a situation that Washington never managed to accomplish in Vietnam."

This analysis is accurate enough, but it takes at face value Washington's assertion that it seeks to establish 'democracy' in Iraq. One needs to look at the record rather than simply believing Administration rhetoric. US interests dictate an Iraqi client state or puppet regime, a dependent tyranny (called a 'democracy' by the US Administration and media). But the decision to abolish the Baath party and the Iraqi Army has left the US without an indigenous security apparatus to suppress the population and control the country. Hence ultimate failure may be inevitable from that moment on. This PINR report does not mention the decision to sack the army, but that has already been pointed out by others as the US' biggest mistake.