Futility of war set to haunt US for years

The poor Iraqi people. President George Bush has repeatedly told them that the handover of power is another landmark in their arduous and bloody journey to achieving democracy, prosperity and viability. Yet the event cannot bring any change in the miserable lives of a majority of them. The Iraqi interim government is essentially an outgrowth of the United States-installed Iraqi Governing Council. It suffers from the same lack of legitimacy, credibility and enforceability that rendered its predecessor ineffective. The transfer of "sovereignty" to it will amount to nothing more than symbolism on the part of the Bush Administration. The failure of the US and its occupying partners to substantiate their original justification for the invasion and to handle post-Saddam Hussein Iraq effectively has left them with little credibility to sell their occupation, either to the Iraqis or the international community. The spectacle of abuse and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners by US and, to some extent, British forces has weakened even the Bush Administration's belated moral argument for occupation.