Come quick, I've been mired in quag...

In less than ten days, The U.S. is to turn over control Iraq to the Iraqi people in keeping with the promised deadline. And that remains the only promise about this failed occupation that they have been able to fulfill. In an excellent article article (the first of three) in Sunday's Washington Post, many of the missed opportunities and failures of the "reconstruction effort" were outlined and discussed. Let's list some of the major failures:

-The Iraqi army is one-third the size U.S. officials promised it would be by now.

-Seventy percent of police officers have not received training.

-In the face of violence, many soldiers and policemen refused to perform their duties because U.S. forces had failed to equip them, designate competent leaders and win trust among the ranks.

-Only 15,000 Iraqis are working on projects funded to employ 250,000 by this month. 80% of these funds have yet to be spent still.

-Most homes only have about 9 hours of electricity a day, despite promises to increase the energy output.

-When Paul Bremer, U.S. administrator in Iraq steps down on June 30th, he will leave the Iraqis with an interim constitution, something he repeatedly promised not to do.

-Violent attacks against troops and civilians are up to about 40 per day.

This just scratches the surface! And when asked about his accomplishments in Iraq, Mr. Bremer said his greatest success was the tax cut he gave to Iraqis. What is wrong with these people! Despite increasing knowledge that tax cuts do not work for anyone but the very wealthy in this country, do they really expect them to do much good in a place teetering on the edge of complete anarchy? Is this the only thing this administration knows how to do? Did we invade Iraq to liberate the people from the crushing weight of their tax burden?

So many questions. So little patience.