"We don't want to take responsibility."

Jonathan Schell has a very thought-provoking article ("The Exception Is the Rule") in the 7/4/05 edition of The Nation. (The article is published online in its entirety at TomDispatch.com [scroll down], with further commentary from Tom Engelhardt.)

The American press often discusses the political makeup of the insurgency, but no one until now has suggested that some of the very forces being trained by the United States might be longing for the return of Saddam. To the extent that this is the case -- or that these forces are otherwise opposed to the occupation -- the United States, far from improving "security," is now training the future resistance to itself. Indeed, the soldiers of Charlie Company (U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces) told Shadid and Fainaru that seventeen of them had quit in recent days. They added that every one of them planned to do the same as soon as possible. Their reasons were simple. They were bitter at the United States. "Look at the homes of the Iraqis," one soldier remarked. "The people have been destroyed." When asked by whom, he answered, "Them" -- and pointed to the Americans leading the patrol.

As Schell points out, this wasn't a case of the Washington Post journalists cherry-picking interviewees with an axe to grind: "Charlie Company was selected by the U.S. Army itself, presumably eager to put its best foot forward." This is apparently the best unit the Army could offer, and even they're not working with us to bring stability to Iraq.

So much for Bush's argument that we'll soon get Iraqi security forces adequately trained, with democracy replacing anarchy in Iraq and peace flourishing, and U.S. troops can safely be withdrawn. That argument can be shelved alongside visions of ecstatically grateful, flower-strewing Iraqis and public parks in Baghdad being renamed in honor of George Bush, Glorious Liberator.