LONDON -- The news from Iraq over the last month has been bleak, with U.S. and British forces continuing to suffer significant casualties. Bomb blasts last month at the U.N. headquarters and a Shiite mosque left many dead and wounded. Acts of sabotage have hindered the resumption of electricity and water supplies and disrupted the flow of Iraqi oil. Iraqi criminals with weapons belonging to the former regime have made life in the cities and countryside unsafe.
Despite the presence of more than 140,000 U.S. and 10,000 British military personnel, there are few signs yet of the re-establishment of law and order. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has rejected suggestions that U.S. reinforcements should be sent to Iraq, although the British government has announced the dispatch of another 3,000 soldiers.
The U.S.-led administration in Iraq has had difficulty employing responsible and reliable Iraqis to govern and police Iraq. The U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council and ministers have little power, and it seems doubtful when or whether the promise of early and free elections will be put into effect. Iraqi opinion, despite relief at the removal of the former tyranny, has become increasingly vocal in its opposition to the presence of foreign troops.