Saddam Hussein Lite Takes Command
by Phyllis Bennis; July 20, 2004

While U.S. media attention has decreased significantly in the weeks since the June 28 so-called “hand-over of sovereignty,” the U.S. occupation remains very much in place, and the level of violence in Iraq has remained constant. Although U.S. casualties remain high (36 GIs dead as of July 17, compared to 42 for all of June) resistance forces have shifted much of their attacks to Iraqi military and police institutions. Assassinations are on the rise, with Iraqi “interim government” ministers and police officials the primary targets of shootings and car-bombs. However, particularly with car-bombs, indiscriminate casualties are escalating, with increased deaths and injuries to many Iraqi civilians, including children, with no connection to the interim Iraqi government or to the U.S. occupation.

The election-driven U.S. goal of “Iraqization” of the casualties is well underway, helping to divert public opinion from the continuing crisis on the ground in Iraq, the huge numbers of Iraqi casualties, and the diminishing levels of international support. The “coalition,” always more symbolically than militarily significant, is largely unraveling. The impact is felt more at the political than military level, with the Bush administration’s claim that it is “leading an international coalition” in Iraq increasingly indefensible.