Nilsen, most of the deaths in Iraq in the last three years can be laid squarely at the feet of Baathist extremists and non-Iraqi terrorists. The victims have been mainly Shi'ite Muslims, who had been the targets of Saddam's death squads prior to the U.S. invasion.
In that respect...nothing has changed. At least now, the Shi'ites and Kurds have a chance to exercise some control over the government, instead of being the victims of it. In addition, the new government is assuming control of the newly activated army divisions, which will begin to relieve U.S. forces of the onerous task of maintaining security and hunting down the terrorists. Of the ten newly created army units, two a month will be activated in the coming months.
All grousing aside, we are on track to begin drawing down our forces in Iraq. Undoubtedly, we will have to maintain a presence there for some time. But if the new government survives and assumes control of it's own security, the future of the "insurgency" is bleak indeed.
