Abstract

'Dead Man Walking'

In the aftermath of Abu Ghraib, a national debate is emerging about withdrawing US forces from Iraq; even some of the war's firmest backers suggest it is now a lost cause. As the "[Washington] Post" reported on May 9, a growing number of US commanders share this pessimism, not because opponents like the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr cannot be crushed militarily but because each American assault serves only to deepen Iraqis' resentment of the occupation. And then there are non-Iraqis like the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who is reportedly behind the grisly videotaped beheading of Nicholas Berg, the first of many promised acts of revenge for Abu Ghraib. "Dead Man Walking" is how one Pentagon consultant described the mood among US generals about the situation in Iraq. Every day, more horrific photographs and videos come to light--a naked detainee led on a dog leash, another naked man screaming in terror as attack dogs menace him--lending bitter irony to the claim that America's ultimate mission in Iraq is to export our values. With polls showing that half of Americans now think the Iraq war is a mistake, and with the Muslim and Arab world seething over Abu Ghraib, we hope [John] Kerry summons the courage to call for a similarly bold change in course.