Several weeks ago I reviewed George Packer's book, The Assassin's Gate. Packer's early chapters described his relationship with an Iraqi-American academic named Kanan Makiya, a strong proponent of the American invasion of Iraq and a believer in the possibilities for democracy there. Today's New York Times Week in Review includes a long article by Makiya, protesting at great length that the situation in Iraq is deteriorating and that the new constitution's emphasis on federalism at the expense of a strong executive will lead to a civil war that will cost, he thinks hundreds of thousands of lives. Acknowledging his own failure to anticipate the situation that would develop, Makiya argues that the recent and impending elections in Iraq are hurting the situation, not helping it, pleads for the revision of the Constitution by independent experts. It is a moving and tragic piece which, one should hope, will be followed up by American reporters both in Iraq and in Washington, where Bush Administration officials should have to respond to this dismal picture and try to explain what, if anything, they are trying to do to stop it. The piece can be read at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/opinion/11makiya.html
My own post for today appears below.
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