Bush's Fantasy of Progress in Iraq

By Robert Scheer, AlterNet. Posted March 16, 2006.

If violence and constant mayhem is a sign of progress three years post-invasion, then Bush will be thrilled by what the future holds.

What is he thinking?

On a day when Shiite vigilantes conducted hangings in Sadr City in reprisal for the killing of scores of their co-religionists in a market bombing, President Bush continued to insist that progress in Iraq justified staying the course. "By their response over the past two weeks, Iraqis have shown the world that they want a future of freedom and peace," he said Monday. "We're helping Iraqis build a strong democracy so that old resentments will be eased and the insurgency marginalized."