Iraq's Killing Fields
A U.S. offensive and an ugly response
The suicide attacks that killed over 190 people in Iraq last week set a new precedent for death and destruction--even by the high standards of this war-ravaged country. One after another, bombs exploded in and around Baghdad, killing scores of Iraqi police officers and Shiite civilians and several American soldiers. In the single bloodiest strike, a minivan blew up in the midst of day laborers, killing 112. American and Iraqi forces have been hammering far-western Sunni strongholds such as Tal Afar, killing 145 suspected insurgents and capturing 361. Last week's suicide bombings were said to be in retaliation for that offensive and to provoke a civil war. American commanders portrayed the attacks as acts of desperation, but the violence raised new doubts about the ability of U.S. military might to thwart guerrilla tactics. "It doesn't seem to have had a substantial impact," says Wayne White, who ran the State Department's Iraq intelligence team from 2003 until earlier this year. "The security is still basically a sieve, and Baghdad is still ground zero for violence."
U.S. officials had predicted the spike in violence as part of the run-up to next month's vote on the newly drafted constitution. It's possible--but unlikely--that hard-core Sunni opponents could defeat it. During elections in January, U.S. troops virtually shut down the country, curbing attacks and allowing many Iraqis to vote. But in the Sunni-dominated provinces, many polling centers simply did not open because of intimidation and violence. "This is not a good time to declare war on the Sunni areas," warns Nedal Salem, an unemployed college graduate in Baghdad. "The consequence this time will be that fire will burn all of Iraq." Can the constitutional vote help pacify the Sunni-dominated insurgency? Don't count on it, says White. "It [will] just further the divide," he says, "and lay more seeds of sectarian strife." -Ilana Ozernoy with Amer Saleh in Baghdad
With Amer Saleh
This story appears in the September 26, 2005 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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