[jyl]

This is actually a pretty critical issue. 20,000 additional US troops in Baghdad will merely waste their lives if the Iraqi government and Army fail to do their part or, worse, actively obstruct US actions.

You see, most of the discussion about Iraq, on PPOT and in the government and media, assumes that the Iraqi government wants roughly what the US wants - to quell the sectarian killing and stabilize the country as a more-or-less democracy of three ethnic groups.

After all, the US government set up the Iraqi government, funds it, controls some of its operations, and Bush has praised Maliki profusely.

But what if the Iraqi government has a different agenda?