Letter to the editor

We have met the enemy and he is...everybody, or so it seems. Our military leaders in Iraq are engulfed in one of the most frustrating ventures imaginable with no clear solutions in sight. The Bush administration continues to look to the elected Iraqi government to take charge of the situation and bring hostilities to a halt. Where we have closed our eyes to reality is in not coming to grips with the real forces that hold the power in that country. The Shia and Sunni ruling Islamic clerics call the shots and they have made little or no effort to reign in their followers and stop the killing frenzy. They have individually made it heartbreakingly clear that uniting the people under one government is only acceptable if it is THEY that are in control. In other words, one religious faction running the show ala Saddam. As far as these clerics are concerned, no mount of American involvement amounts to a hill of beans. I truly wish that the troop surge in Baghdad could turn the tide, but we'd better not look for allies in that effort. The Iraqi government is just window dressing in this ongoing facade. If there is to be any 'forward movement' possible, we need to deal with the guys preaching from the minarets.

George Morin
Auburn, Ga.