"The latest spate of bomb attacks across Iraq, including a double-strike in the northern town of Tal Afar in which 152 were killed, clearly demonstrates that the Bush administration's reworked strategy for stabilising the situation has flopped. More than 20,000 additional combat troops were inducted into the theatre of operations during the last three months. It was hoped that with such a surge in troop levels, security could be re-established at first in Baghdad and then progressively in the rest of the country. For a few weeks after the new deployment began, there was a decline in the incidence of violence in the Iraqi capital. However, it would now appear that those fighting the foreign occupation were only holding back until they could accurately reassess the changed military equations. The insurgents who had withdrawn to the suburbs of Baghdad or the more distant districts continued to attack the personnel of the U. S. and newly raised Iraqi armies in these areas. To the chagrin of the occupation forces, the insurgency was restarted even in places that were supposed to be `completely pacified.' Tal Afar is one of the towns where intensive anti-insurgency operations were undertaken on two occasions since the March 2003 invasion; it was declared violence-free both times. The occupation troops who have reason to think that they are trapped in a pointless `whack-a-mole' game could have been hardly surprised when the resistance revived in Baghdad as well.
"Aside from the increase in troop levels, almost no other part of the re-worked strategy fell into place. While three Iraqi brigades were to have participated in the operations, most of the personnel deployed were apparently drawn not from the newly raised army but from the Peshmerga militias of the Kurdish parties. The regime headed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has also not met the political benchmarks set for it. Little has been done to assuage Sunni resentment. The plan for partially rolling back the `de-Baathification' drive is not likely to be implemented because powerful sections of the Shia leadership, including Ayatollah Ali Sistani, are opposed. The cabinet-approved legislative measure that provides for a fairer distribution of oil revenues is not likely to be passed by parliament since the bill contains provisions permitting the entry of foreign companies into the petroleum sector. In many ways this bill exemplifies the rapacious and callous nature of the Bush administration's Iraq policy. Even as his country's soldiers die in an unpopular and futile conflict, Mr. Bush tries to enrich the industrial lobbies that have been among his staunchest supporters.
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