Can US Forces Keep The Iraqi Interim Govt Alive Until November 3rd?

[Beloved Citizen]

The battle lines are now drawn, and all the world sits breathlessly on the edge of its collective seat as the real question about the so-called transfer of power in Iraq begins to be asked: "Can George W. Bush keep the members of the Iraqi Interim Govt alive until after the US elections on November 2nd?

The matters at hand:

- By singling the Iraqi Interim Govt out as the representatives of the "New Iraq," has Bush provided the insurgency not only with interesting targets, but also a goal that will symbolize the success or failure of their rebellion? And by identifying their elevation as a defeat for terrorism, has Bush merely painted targets on their backs, the equivalent of his infamous "bring it on" statement?

- If Bush can manage to keep these poor people alive, will he then be able to declare that the move to democracy in Iraq is a success, and that the war was truly fought for good and honorable purposes?

- If the insurgents manage to kill off a number of the members of the Iraqi Interim Govt, will the world perceive a failure on Bush's part to bring a western style democracy to this troubled land?

Of course, any kind of govt requiring the protection of 140,000 foreign troops to merely stay physically alive is hardly going to achieve any of its stated aims. However, as is almost always the case when a superpower intimately involves itself in the internal affairs of an impoverished and powerless third world country, the real concern is with the political effects and perceptions within the superpower itself, along with those of its economic and military peers. What actually happens to the supposedly liberated country is only a small and irrelevant sideshow.