The War Turns 4

By NANCY GIBBS

HOPE IS A CLUSTER BOMB IN wartime, shredding peace of mind. An Iraqi mother hopes her children will be safe--but then she learns that bombers are placing children visibly in the backseat, as unwitting little decoys, so the car can clear the checkpoints before the driver blows it up, with the children still inside. A resident of Baghdad sees the markets reopen and hopes that a flood of fresh troops will bring a season of calm--but U.S. generals warn of a "squirting effect" that shifts the battle to the less guarded cities, so the blood just flows faster somewhere else.

The fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion has exposed how reality ambushes intention, leaving people at war with even themselves. U.S. leaders fight over how to write an ending. President George W. Bush calls for courage and resolve and dispatches 30,000 more troops; Democrats call for candor and realism and debate whether a withdrawal deadline of September 2008 is too late or too soon. Bush vows that as soon as things improve, we will leave; Democrats warn that unless things improve, we will leave. Will their impasse finally force Iraqi leaders to step up? Or just invite a war-weary public to tune out?

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans think the war is going badly, and more than half wish the U.S. had stayed home. For Iraqis, rage and shame and need are deadlocked. Two-thirds say they have no faith in American troops and that their presence makes things worse; more than half say it's acceptable to attack them. But withdrawal would leave civilians at the mercy of corrupt, inept and sectarian leaders and security forces, so only 35% say they want the troops out now.

Certainty is a casualty of war too. You can believe the whole enterprise was wrong from the start and still wonder if it is also wrong to leave--just as you can see it as a worthy, but now lost, cause. Some former war supporters, looking for exoneration, conclude that the Iraqis don't deserve our continued sacrifice. Some opponents, looking to assign the blame, say Iraqis don't deserve abandonment either, now that we've broken their country. After four years, it is hard to find anyone confident about where duty lies--unless you look in the Oval Office.