Iraq at war with itself

摘要

Sometimes after people peer into an abyss, they have the sense to step back. For the moment, however, Iraqis are continuing their march of folly. The bombing last week of the Shias' revered Askariya mosque in the city of Samarra unleashed the most intense sectarian violence since the American invasion and the toppling of Saddam Hussein nearly three years ago. What began as a Sunni-dominated insurgency against the occupiers is now beginning to look increasingly like a civil war between Iraqis themselves. This is no doubt exactly what the mosque's attackers were hoping for. Such a war would plunge Iraq deeper into mayhem and mark the definitive failure of George Bush's vaunted "freedom" project in the Middle East, not just in the eyes of Arabs but in those of Americans, too. In the aftermath of the new violence, one poll showed Mr Bush's approval rating at 34%, the lowest of his presidency.