Notes on Iraq

So how goes the quagmire?
In the Washington Times Andrew Apostolou says the Iraqi insurgency is made up almost entirely of Sunni Arab Baathists, and that they most likely will fight to the finish.
It will be a tough slog, but they aren’t likely to win.

[T]he insurgents are probably a minority within a minority. The U.S. military estimates their numbers at around 5,000 men. There are more Sunni Arabs fighting with the coalition in the new Iraqi police force.

Once the insurgents are defeated, and they almost certainly will be, the prospects for a decent future look pretty good.

Asked to choose the form of government Iraq needed now, 90% of those interviewed – in their own homes – said an Iraqi democracy, and overwhelmingly rejected the idea that democracy was only for Westerners and would not work in Iraq.
…
[W]hen asked to suggest the best thing that could happen in the next year, fewer than 1% said an Islamic government.