I'm afraid that the reports that the war in Iraq was over may have been premature. A new phase of fighting seems to have begun and the administration's efforts at rebuilding Iraq are taking on the qualities of slapstick comedy — if only it weren't so tragic.

NFLI

via Stratfor: U.S. Forces in Iraq have been under attack for the past 11 days by fighters with the recently formed National Front for the Liberation of Iraq (NFLI), Al Jazeera television has reported. The unconfirmed attacks have been widespread, occurring in Baghdad, Basra, Babylon, Mosul, An Najaf and Kirkuk, according to Al Jazeera. The attacks are isolated and reportedly have resulted in the deaths of more than 20 U.S. and British soldiers and damage to eight coalition tanks and armored personnel carriers. The NFLI has threatened to kill retired U.S. Gen. Jay Garner, in charge of reconstruction efforts, in an effort to protect Iraqi oil interests. The NFLI also has demanded that U.S. supporters vacate all Iraqi government premises they occupy "illegally."
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THE BUSHIES TWO PLANS FOR IRAQ.
Split Decision

Last week, an Iraqi exile named Mohammed Mohsen Zubaidi strode into Baghdad and declared himself mayor, meeting with local sheiks and promising them potable drinking water and electricity. "With your help, we can manage our country by ourselves," The Washington Post quoted him as saying. Barbara Bodine, the former U.S. ambassador to Yemen who has been tapped for administrative responsibility over Iraq's capital, was forced to tell reporters that the United States did not recognize Zubaidi's authority.

But Zubaidi isn't the only one eager to fill the power vacuum left by the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. Last week, both Ahmed Chalabi, a senior member of the Pentagon-backed Iraqi National Congress (INC), and his old rival Ayad Allawi, who leads the CIA-backed Iraqi National Accord, also arrived in Baghdad. Both major Kurdish parties have set up offices there as well. In Mosul, a Kurd affiliated with one of those parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), declared himself mayor of the city, sparking riots by the townspeople. Representatives of Ayatollah Mohammed Bakr Al Hakim, the head of the Iran-based and -funded Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), have started to assemble large crowds in Basra, Karbala, and Najaf.

"It is vitally important," says Barhim Salih, the prime minister of the Regional Kurdistan Government, "that an interim national Iraqi authority is established very soon and that it assume responsibility for maintaining law and order and provide public services while preparing for elections as soon as possible." But, while Salih is undoubtedly right, it's unclear whether he'll get his wish. That's because the Bush administration is as divided over how to replace Saddam's regime as it was over how to topple it. There is not one U.S. plan to create an interim Iraqi government but, rather, two competing ones--one backed by the Pentagon, the other by the State Department and the National Security Council (NSC)--and this bureaucratic infighting is sowing confusion, delaying reconstruction, and leaving the political field largely open for the worst kind of anti-Western, anti-democratic leaders to rise.
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  thanks to Talking Points Memo