War and Peace
Are we winning or losing the peace?

It's still far too early to say. The latest posts from Salam Pax and G In Baghdad hardly give one reason for optimism, though. Neither does this story in the Washington Post. Some additional data points here and here.

I think we needed a post-war analogue to the the Powell doctrine of striking the enemy with overwhelming force; a doctrine of rebuilding the occupied infrastructure with overwhelming rapidity - a high-impact Marshall Plan for the new century. Unfortunately, it's a little too late for that in Afghanistan and Iraq. See what a retired US general says about “ the consequences of failing to prepare for victory”.

Guerilla action against the coalition forces appears to be on the upswing, as evidenced here, here, and here.

Is the news all bad or is it only bad news that gets reported?

The documents seized several days ago may lead to some discoveries of WMDs. Or not. Perhaps I'm far too cynical, but does this story have the fingerprints of the Administration's spin machine all over it?

But hey, Bechtel, Halliburton, and WorldCom are making hay out of the occupation. Now that Enron can't sell electricity in the US anymore, will they turn their attention to Iraq?

Very little news out of Iran, so it's hard to know if the protests have been crushed or if they'll resume. Here's hoping we don't have a replay of what happened in 1999. Ending the rule of the Mullahs would be a real victory for freedom and self-determination.