Our role in Iraq affects U.S. politics

KEY QUOTES:

"U.S. soldiers in Baghdad are not popular. Iraqis wonder why, with 55,000 U.S. soldiers in and around the capital, armed looters and thieves still prowl the streets. Last week, as the temperature soared to well over 100 degrees Farenheit, refrigerators and air-conditioning did not work because in many districts there were only one or two hours of electricity a day."

"The success or failure of the U.S. occupation is still on a knife edge."

"This is the real problem for the United States. It promised democracy for Iraq but it is frightened of the Shia representatives winning. It is trying to delay elections until it thinks people acceptable to Washington will get elected."

"One of the bizarre aspects of the situation in Iraq is that what aging grand ayatollahs decide in their modest houses in the dusty back alleys of Najaf will directly affect the next U.S. presidential election."

"In either case the White House is discovering that the occupation of Iraq, one of the most complex societies on earth, which appeared to be a sure election winner in the United States a few weeks ago, has added some dangerously unpredictable wild cards to U.S. politics."