Iraq

Here's a cheerful assessment from my Main Man, Fareed Zakaria, in the most recent issue of Newsweek:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/67924

President Bush continues to talk about Iraq's shining democracy in speeches that seem utterly detached from reality. This is a nation where 4.5 million people have fled their homes, ethnic cleansing has transformed whole cities and religious fanatics have imposed a theocratic rule that is often more extreme than in Iran. In much of the country, thugs rule the streets. . . The central government is barely functioning. Half of the cabinet ministries are either vacant or nonfunctional. Iraq's oil production is down this year. Sectarian divisions are, in some ways, getting worse.