The Americans had expected the Shiite population to rise up in favor of the invasion, but this does not appear to have happened on any significant scale as yet. Another factor yet to be weighed is the long tradition of nationalist and anticolonialist sentiment here dating back at least to the British mandate after World War I. NY Times

..analysts told Reuters U.S. military leaders may have erred in using an invasion force that is too small and not packing enough armor while leaving critical forces at home. They also questioned why ground troops were rushed into Iraq without allowing U.S. and British air power first to clobber Iraqi military targets, why Pentagon officials assumed Iraq's military would surrender in droves and why no sizable invasion force was inserted in the north despite Rumsfeld's earlier promise to ''work around'' the Turkey problem.

Over-estimating the extent of one's own power is the best sign that someone or something is heading for a fall. This is something the Bush administration has been doing for months now. We're extremely powerful. But we're not all-powerful.

An example of such over-reach is our current decision to threaten almost every country on the planet with payback for not following our lead on Iraq. Such threats aren't just ill-advised. Worse than that, they lack credibility since we're just not in a position to stick it to every country at once...

It's sad and undignified for conservatives to trumpet the evidence of the administration's shortsightedness and incompetence as evidence of its insight. They're lost in a tangle of their own enthusiasm and self-deception. Unfortunately, we're all along for the ride. Josh Marshall

These are reflections of American arrogance in not learning from history combined with classic self-deception, i.e., assuming our nation is somehow "exceptional" in relation to other nations and not subject to historical and moral limitations. In theological terms, we think we are exempt from the Fall. The irony is that we, in our self-righteous post-9/11 militarism, may end up doing the greater damage. And as the Christian right expounds the heresies of American innocence, demonization of others, divine triumphalism and myth of redemptive violence it may ironically become the central agent of the "anti-Christ" in our time. Heaven help us all. MGranzen