Dream On

A Good Day in Iraq
Will the new Iraqi government, and the Bush administration, build on a rare military success, or squander it?

Friday, June 9, 2006; A22

THE KILLING of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, is a big gain for the U.S. mission in Iraq and the country's new government, the more so because it comes at a critical moment. With one airstrike, U.S. forces deprived Iraq's insurgency -- diverse and fragmented though it is -- of its sole widely recognized leader, probably its biggest fundraiser and recruiter, and the organizer of some of the most spectacular and demoralizing attacks in Iraq, from the bombing of the United Nations headquarters three years ago to the beheadings of foreign hostages to the massacres of Shiite worshipers in Najaf and Karbala. Although al-Qaeda in Iraq makes up only a part of the Iraqi insurgency, it has been the organization most intent on fomenting sectarian war between Sunnis and Shiites; the elimination of its leader will surely contribute to stanching that civil conflict.

The successful operation follows some of the darkest days of the war, when the kidnapping and killing of civilians in Baghdad seems to have reached new heights. It also coincides with the long-awaited selection of interior, defense and national security ministers for Iraq's new democratic government. As advocated by the United States, the appointees are professionals who are independent of sectarian parties and militias. The new defense minister, Abdul-Qadir Muhammed Jasim, commanded Iraqi forces during the successful clearing of insurgents from Fallujah in 2004; he should be able to work closely with U.S. commanders in deploying the Iraqi troops who are to begin taking responsibility for security in much of the country this year.
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To do all this, the Iraqi government desperately needs continued U.S. military and economic support. That's why it was a little unnerving, in the middle of yesterday's celebrations, to hear President Bush speak of plans to hold high-profile consultations early next week on "how to best deploy America's resources in Iraq." U.S. commanders have been eager to reduce American troops from the current level of about 135,000 to 100,000 by this fall; the Pentagon may seize on the good news to justify the reduction. Both Americans and Iraqis would love to see U.S. troops come home -- and a redeployment might help Mr. Maliki politically, not to mention U.S. Republicans facing this fall's elections. Yet officials from both countries were unanimous in predicting yesterday that the challenge from the insurgency will continue to be severe. Perhaps U.S. troops can be drawn down without worsening that threat; but it would be tragic if, after so much suffering, Iraq's first democratic government were denied the means to succeed.

This is of a piece with all of the WaPo's editorializing on Iraq: fantasies at best, lies at worst. The death of Zarqawi is of absolutely no consequence to the prosecution of this illiegal, immoral war, period.