Nearly two months ago, I wrote a diary that began:
For the third time in three years, the United States military plans to hand over the city of Samarra to newly trained Iraqi police, and:It's a major test for the U.S. military in Iraq, and one U.S. commanders here say they can't afford to fail.
And today the Golden Mosque in Samarra was destroyed, protests and retalitory raids against Sunni mosques have occurred throughout Iraq, prominent Shiites are vowing revenge...the civil war that has been long-feared and long-anticipated may have begun. And perhaps the mosque would have been targeted regardless of our actions, but consider this:
...in February, the city had "zero" police, he said, apart from a sergeant guarding an armory of 20 rifles and small contingents at the hospital and Golden Mosque.
And when we left in December?
About 800 policemen are on the payroll, but only 100 to 150 show up for work
But we left, knowing the plan to rely on the Iraqi forces was the test...the test we couldn't afford to fail.
