Thursday, November 13, 2003

More dangers in Iraq don't spell success

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

You can't solve a dangerous problem without facing facts. So there is reason to take a bit of hope from urgent White House meetings about Iraq.

The bombing of the Italian parliamentary police in the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah underscores the serious need for security improvements. No matter what other progress is genuinely being made in Iraq, success cannot be achieved when Americans, allied troops and cooperative Iraqis face increasing dangers.

After the meetings yesterday, top administrator L. Paul Bremer apparently has new options for handing authority to Iraqis. A toughening U.S. military stance is right, at least for the short term. And U.S. forces apparently are concentrating on capturing Saddam Hussein, a minimal requirement for security.

As his strategy evolves, President Bush must examine a Defense Department leadership that thought it had Iraq well under control. There is still a question whether more troops are needed. With Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz in charge, the public has reason to doubt the answers. They ought to be relieved of duty.

According to Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, attacks on U.S. forces are averaging 30 to 35 a day, up from a half-dozen or so a day when he took command in Iraq five months ago. That's the heart of the problem the president must face squarely and successfully.