Bush Surprise Visit To Iraq Proves Weakening Support For Iraqi Government

If anything, the surprise visit to Iraq by President Bush has only illustrated the weakening of American support for the Iraqi government. The surprise meeting made only incidental contact with the main government officials in Iraq, and instead spent much of the time with American soldiers or more moderate Sunni leaders in the Anbar Providence who have only formed a temporary "marriage of convenience" with the Americans to oppose their more radical Sunni Al Qaeda political rivals.

This weakening of support for the Iraqi government only proves that the important job of political change and reconciliation is unlikely to result from the current Shiite dominated government of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Just like the British withdrawal from Basra, which is little more than Britain declaring a political victory in the face of ongoing problems, and has only led to fighting by rival Shiite militias who are jockeying for power, the U.S. is likely to claim some sort of "political victory" in Iraq and then largely leave at some point, only to allow some fighting between rival armed radicals and militias.

So far, neither the U.S. or Britain seem to display the real will to install a government in Iraq that is required to make the real difficult political choices needed, or to really put the nation back together in the condition it once was in, with far less violence and more social order. We broke it, but we haven't fixed it as of yet.