Does Bush Really Want Democratic Progress in Iraq?

Iraq is a violent mess, with no "democracy" in sight. From Reuters news service yesterday....

"Sunni guerrillas took at least 60 people hostage in an Iraqi town near Baghdad on Friday and threatened to kill them unless Shi'ites left the area, a Shi'ite official quoted residents as saying. The hostage-taking and three successive days of bombings which killed at least 34 people suggested insurgents had regrouped after a lull in violence since Jan. 30 elections....

Insurgents with heavy weapons appeared to have taken control of the mixed Sunni and Shi'ite town of Madaen, just south of Baghdad, and no police or government forces were in sight, said the official....

Guerrillas have taken control of cities such as Falluja before but seizing many hostages in a town so close to the capital will pile pressure on Iraq's new leaders to deliver the improved security Iraqis have expected since the elections.

Iraq has yet to form a full government 11 weeks after the polls, with politicians trying to maneuvere round sectarian minefields amid huge political changes after decades of dictatorship under Saddam Hussein. "

And yet the Bush Administration is asking for $82 billion more of US taxpayers' funds to spend in Iraq, in addition to $200 billion spent there over the last two years.

Buried in this Bush request is $658 million for a brand-new US embassy in Baghdad, which would be the world's largest embassy...a fortress-like super-bunker that would be bomb-proof and wired for state-of-the-art surveillance and communications. It sounds like a schoolboy's super-hero mega-fantasy.

When we see the distinct lack of political progress in Iraq despite the presence of 150,000 US troops and the expenditure of $200 billion, and we match it with the Bush Administration's obvious desire for a permanent controlling presence in Iraq, the question occurs to me.....does Bush really want a new, truly democratic and independent Iraqi government?

Be sure to read the gory details of the Bush Administration's plan for $82 billion more to spend in Iraq and Afghan. The Senate is now debating the merits of this request.

And to help you quickly understand progress in the last two years, I wrote "The Iraq War Made Simple - Results by the Numbers."