By Gregory Clark The Japan Times 10/06/08

Iraq is supposed to be an example of impending Western victory over Islamic extremists. But all that has happened is that the U.S. and its friends are finally beginning to stop making mistakes. Before the U.S. military arrived, there was no al-Qaida in Iraq. They needlessly created a Sunni resistance. They have helped to wreck a society that once had one of the highest levels of education, literacy and female emancipation in the Middle East. And they call that victory? (more…)