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U.S. Lowers Sights On What Can Be Achieved in Iraq

(Washington Post) Robin Wright and Ellen Knickmeyer - The Bush administration is significantly lowering expectations of what can be achieved in Iraq, recognizing that the U.S. will have to settle for far less progress than originally envisioned during the transition due to end in four months, according to U.S. officials in Washington and Baghdad. The U.S. no longer expects to see a model new democracy, a self-supporting oil industry, or a society in which the majority of people are free from serious security or economic challenges, U.S. officials say. The ferocious debate over a new constitution has particularly driven home the gap between the original U.S. goals and the realities after almost 28 months. The U.S. decision to invade Iraq was justified in part by the goal of establishing a secular and modern Iraq that honors human rights and unites disparate ethnic and religious communities. But the document on which Iraq's future is to be built will require laws to be compliant with Islam. "We set out to establish a democracy, but we're slowly realizing we will have some form of Islamic republic," said a U.S. official. U.S. officials now acknowledge that they misread the strength of the sentiment among Kurds and Shiites to create a special status.
2005-08-19 00:00:00
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