By Andrew L. Jaffee

The announcement that a whole Iraqi police brigade had been “pulled off line”, as he put it, came from the spokesman for the American-led coalition, Maj Gen William Caldwell.

“There was clear evidence that there was some complicity in allowing death squad elements to move freely, when in fact they were supposed to be impeding their movement,” Maj Gen Caldwell said.

“It was realised that removing them from Baghdad would, in fact, enhance security,” he added.

- BBC, Oct. 4, 2006

Putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop, eh? My original enthusiasm for Iraqis taking a wonderful opportunity to embrace liberty has steadily eroded into pessimism. I won’t give up hope completely, but if this mayhem goes on for another year, the U.S. needs to get the hell out of Iraq, and let its people pursue what they seem to want above all else: violence and revenge.

Call me a “cut-and-run liberal,” which I’m not, but I believe I’m being realistic. Iraqis voted and then, what, thought that everything would magically fall into place? It well may be that some Iraqis still see freedom and stability as a goal, but it cannot be the majority. If the majority of Iraqis wanted liberty and security, the country would not be in the chaos it is now. Iraqis could join the security forces, inform on terrorists, hold a grass-roots conference on national unity, pressure their elected representatives, etc., to bring order to the nation.

Look at what happened today:

At least 13 people have died and dozens have been injured in a series of bomb blasts in a busy area in the south of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

About 75 people were reported injured when three explosions hit the mainly Christian Camp Sarah district.

Look at what happened yesterday:

A suicide bomber unleashed a blast in a Baghdad fish market Tuesday and two Shiite families were found slain north of the capital as violence across Iraq claimed at least 52 lives.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, announced the deaths of nine soldiers and two Marines in what has been a deadly period for American forces in Iraq. The announcement brought to at least 15 the number of service members killed in fighting since Saturday.

If these types of incidents were sporadic, I might be able to retain some optimism. But day after day after day, we hear the same old: homicide bombings, beheadings, executions, snipers…

People have often equivocally referred to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict as a “cycle of violence,” which is pure BS. That “conflict” is a Palestinian, hatred-driven attempt at genocide against Jews. Iraq is truly in a cycle of violence.