They ARE happy to see us

When the Bush administration acted surprised by the widespread insurgency and the spreading sectarian violence in Iraq, I wondered if any of them ever took a history course.

Although many insurgencies have failed over the years and resistance movements been crushed, the list of invaded countries that mounted no resistance after its army fell isn't all that big. Union soldiers invaded their own country during the US Civil War and found recalcitrant citizens of the South shooting and attacking them from behind. Stories of the resistance during World War II are legendary.

At first the administration said the Iraqi resistance were "Saddam loyalists" or "Ba'ath party extremists." After the Shi'ites started resisting in Fallujah they became "elements of extreme Islam." Soon after that members of the resistance styled themselves members of Al Qaeda. This worked well for the Bush administration that had for months before, during and after the invasion tried to link Bin Laden to Saddam.

Of course they ignored the obvious; that Zaraqawi and Bin Laden didn't even know each other, that Bin Laden and his operatives were busy fighting their own insurgency in Afghanistan and really didn't have the manpower to start a second front.

But because most Americans have little understanding of Al Qaeda, they think that all people claiming to be members must be in touch with the leadership. It's the same as saying everyone who owns a Chicago Cubs shirt must be a member of the Major League Baseball franchise. If a man wearing a Cavaliers jersey robs a bank, the FBI doesn't go knocking on LeBron James' front door.

To show just how impotent the occupation forces have become (in part as an effort to reduce their own casualties), the different sects in Iraq are killing each other with impunity. The numbers of executed are staggering. If Saddam is a war criminal for killing Kurds and other dissident factions — and he undoubtedly is — then the leaders of these groups are making him look like an amateur. They come dressed in uniforms, identifying themselves as Iraqi government troops as they arrest husbands and sons. Often as early as the next morning the arrested are found murdered, their bodies dumped unceremoniously throughout Baghdad.

It has gotten so bad that some news agencies are reporting that Iraqis are actually relieved when American troops arrest one of their family members.

Maybe the administration was right in its predictions because the Iraqis are finally happy to see US troops.