Civil War In Iraq
To The Editor:

The toll of American fatalities in Iraq reached 3,000 as the year 2006 ended. More are dying every day. Another grim statistic shows that, during the single year of 2006, more than 22,000 Iraqi civilians and police officers died violently. More than two-thirds of these perished during the second half of the year. The problem obviously is getting worse, not better. Many ordinary Iraqis blame the American invasion for the immense loss of life and widespread damage to property befalling their nation. America has become the enemy, not only in Iraq, but throughout the Muslim world.

President [George W.] Bush continues to claim that our forces are combatting "terrorists". He is terribly wrong. The Iraqis are killing each other in what is clearly a civil war between rival Muslim sects, each of which hopes to dominate the new government. U.S. forces should not be in the middle of this kind of conflict. And Americans are being killed by partisans of either Iraqi faction who believe that our forces are aiding their adversary. The course that should be followed by our nation is withdrawal, not sending more troops into harm's way. Very truly yours, Janet McCarthy Flushing