LONDON — Prospects for Iraq and its people are gloomy. Responsibility for that rests partly with Saddam Hussein and his evil regime, but also with the Americans and their allies for botching the aftermath of the March 2003 invasion.
The first question is not whether American and allied forces will be withdrawn from Iraq, but when and how.
Whatever President George W. Bush may say, the weight of American opinion now favors a rapid withdrawal. The strain on the American military is severe. While casualties are still light compared with those incurred in the Vietnam and Korean conflicts, they are tragedies for many American families who ask what it's all for, and why their loved ones should be made to suffer.