Iraq closer to civil war than ever

To the editor:

I sincerely wish that passing this Iraqi constitution will do everything President Bush claims it will. I would love nothing more than to be proved completely wrong on every assumption that has led me for the past two years to look at my newspaper every day and think to myself, "I told you so." I'm willing to give up my pride and my frustration with this administration just to see something that resembles peace happen over there.

I'd also like to win the lottery.

I'm wary, to say the least, because President Bush and his supporters have a kind of twisted optimism bordering on willful ignorance that is extremely disturbing. Every little "newsworthy event" like this in Iraq; the "mission accomplished" speech, the large mobilizations, the first vote, the capturing of endless "no. 2 in commands," etc., is just more spin created to boost something in the back of people's minds that maybe, just maybe, things are going to work out after all. The problem is, for the past two years, they have done anything but.

It is all a sham. If anything, Iraq is even closer to civil war now than it was before. The constitution will only polarize competing factions within Iraq and lead to more violence. Meanwhile U.S. soldiers will be caught in the fray, still under-supported and poorly led.

WILLIAM C. STOSINE, Iowa City, Iowa