I think you are focused on the wrong stuff.

noteworthy wrote:
Amar has taken justice into his own hands, vowing to avenge Jafaar's death 100 times over....

Its a war. This is going to happen. If this sort of story were an impediment to peace no war would ever have ended.

Still, the returnees are not "a good problem to have", because many of their homes are now occupied (illegally) by people from opposing sects.

Yes it is, because previously no one wanted to return because it was too dangerous. When you're in hell, a day when only your feet get burned is a blessing. The fact that you'd prefer to spend the day in Iowa is beside the point.

Mrs. Aasan's family fully expected to get attacked when traveling after dark. She was "thrilled and relieved" that they managed to cheat death that night.

This is meant as an example of progress. Previously this would have simply been impossible.

The people in charge are warlords, not police. Presently, the violence is suppressed, but the underlying forces are unresolved. With an eye on the clock, the Americans have resigned themselves to arming and training their former enemies, so that at least someone is in charge, knowing all the while that no one can be trusted. Increasingly, America's only leverage is its impending departure. In the vacuum that follows, power will accrue to the two-gun-toting maniacal warlords, not to the technocrats, whose most notable recent accomplishment is a restaurant opening, apparently.

The restaurant is the point, which is why it is ridiculous to pin an assessment of the success of this stategy on phoney political benchmarks, many of which will never be reached precisely because the people of Iraq do not want to reach them, and why there is absolutely no way that this situation will be resolved in the few months the Democrats wish to give it.

It doesn't matter what these technocrats agree to on paper because fuel is the only thing paper is good for in hell. They have some security. The thing they need to do with it is build an economy. Restaurants. Retail stores. Industry. Start employing people.

When its easier to put food on ones table by serving sandwiches than by rolling around with the local thugs, people will serve sandwiches instead. It isn't going to be pretty and it isn't going to be quick, but eventually people will have better things to do than shoot eachother.

RE: Must Read: Iraq Round-Up