by the Nation

About the author: The Nation is a weekly newsmagazine dedicated to the critical discussion of political and social issues.

The quagmire in Iraq seems to deepen by the week, with the guerrilla resistance growing stronger and more sophisticated. The past month [November 2003] has been particularly sobering for the United States: five American helicopters downed, more than eighty American soldiers killed, and more departures among the nongovernmental organizations and international bodies needed to help in reconstruction.

In response to these events and to a new CIA report warning of the growing disaffection of the Iraqi people, the Bush Administration has unveiled an "Iraqization" strategy that moves up the date for turning over some control to an Iraqi governing body to June [2004] and that speeds up the process of training Iraqi police and security forces. Also anticipated...