Sadness in Baghdad

For a personal perspective on what is going on in Baghdad, I have found Riverbend's Baghdad Burning to be an invaluable resource. This is from her most recent post:

I realized how common it [wearing a headscarf] had become only in mid-July when M., a childhood friend, came to say goodbye before leaving the country. She walked into the house, complaining of the heat and the roads, her brother following closely behind. It took me to the end of the visit for the peculiarity of the situation to hit me. She was getting ready to leave before the sun set, and she picked up the beige headscarf folded neatly by her side. As she told me about one of her neighbors being shot, she opened up the scarf with a flourish, set it on her head like a pro, and pinned it snuggly under her chin with the precision of a seasoned hijab-wearer. All this without a mirror- like she had done it a hundred times over… Which would be fine, except that M. is Christian.

UPDATE: Sullivan links to this Riverbend post too, and in his previous post rightly points out that what is happening in Iraq is a disaster on a much larger scale than the fighting in Lebanon and Israel. And what's more, we are more responsible for Iraq. My tinfoil hat personality is whispering into my ear that Bush delibrately let Israel "off the leash" in attacking Hezbollah to distract the world from the hell we've allowed Iraq to become. But of course the Israel-Hezbollah conflict has further inflamed the Iraqi Shiites against the U.S. and Israel, so if that was his strategy it backfired horribly.

Part of me longs for some massive increase in our presence in Iraq: a truly grand Marshall plan that will set Iraq on its feet and redeem our nation's honor. America would sacrifice and businesses, individuals, and government would throw their weight behind an awesome effort, greater than anything the world has ever seen. But then I look at the huge crowds in Bagdhad cheering Hezbollah. And I see who is President of the United States, and who is Secretary of Defense. And I conclude: "Who are you kidding, Zac? Let's get the hell out of there."