Iraq: Setbacks, Advances, Prospects

Since the destruction of the Saddam Hussein's totalitarian Ba'athist regime and the liberation of Iraq in the U.S.- and British-led Second Gulf War of spring 2003, the Coalition Provisional Authority headed in Baghdad by L. Paul Bremer has had to cope with some unpredictable circumstances, has made some unforced errors, and has notched some significant achievements in its efforts to bring security and self-government to the Kurds, Shi'ite and Sunni Arabs, and other peoples of Iraq. Whatever one thinks of how the war began, the whole civilized world has a vast stake in setting Iraq on the path toward democracy and the rule of law, and the case for cautious optimism remains strong.