It's apparent that Washington has no clear plan for Iraq

In one sense everybody -- supporters and opponents of the war in Iraq -- got it wrong. Opponents denounced U.S. plans to impose neo-imperial control on the country. Supporters spoke of the good things the United States planned to bring to the Iraqi people once Saddam Hussein was overthrown.

It was only as the looting of Baghdad continued week after week and the United States visibly failed to get control of the situation that the bizarre truth emerged: Washington does not have any real plans for Iraq at all. It is making up its policy as it goes along.

Everywhere there are signs of the breakdown. A few weeks ago I nervously drove from Baghdad to Amman in Jordan along the great highway through the western desert of Iraq. As we passed looters, their elderly pick-ups and taxis piled high with junk, I wondered if it would occur to any of them that they could make a lot more money by stealing our car at gunpoint than they could by stripping old Iraqi government offices of broken chairs and filing cabinets.

But even then I thought that the phenomenon was probably temporary. At some point the Americans, whom we could see assiduously checking the papers of aid convoys from Jordan, would surely feel bound to secure the most important land route leading to Iraq. In fact it has gotten worse. Even tough Jordanian drivers, who drove to Baghdad at the height of the bombing, now often refuse to travel the road because of fear of armed bandits.
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Iraq nuclear and oilfield chaos confront US rulers

Lawlessness in oilfields and a warning of a possible nuclear emergency reared up to confront Iraq's United States administration as thousands of Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad to demand their own government.

The United Nation's nuclear watchdog agency said it was alarmed by almost daily reports of looting and destruction at nuclear sites, warning that the theft of radioactive material posed a security threat and a danger to health.

Oil officials said the looting and lack of security were also hampering efforts to restore oil output, vital for the devastated country's economic recovery after the US-led war to oust Saddam Hussein's government.
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You've got to read this. The Army detains two Arab candidates running for a provincial council, they won't be able to run, and then:
It was still unclear who would replace the two candidates. The U.S. military will choose six further "independent" council members.

Free at Last

This is the kind of democracy your average Texas Republican -- not to mention your average GOP Supreme Court Justice -- could learn to love: