IN JULY, I made my seventh trip to Iraq. From military bases in Basra, Fallujah and Anbar province to Baghdad's Green Zone, I spent time with our diplomats and our generals, with Iraqi political leaders and with our troops. Even forty-eight hours on the ground, in a protective bubble, makes more vivid all that we have achieved--and all that we still must overcome.
In Iraq, we confront two parallel realities. Our military and civilians are doing extraordinary work, under the most difficult conditions--and they are getting results. For example, the Iraqi army is much more capable than it was just a year ago, thanks to an increasingly effective U.S.-led training effort.
But for all our achievements, the larger reality is this: Iraq--and the success of America's mission there--remains prisoner to terrible and growing sectarian violence. Sectarian violence has trumped the insurgency and foreign terrorists as the main security threat in Iraq. In December 2005, Iraqis voted by the millions, but 90 percent cast their ballots along sectarian lines. Far from a democratic turning point, the elections reflected Iraq's deepening fault-lines. Since then, ethnic militias increasingly have become the law in large parts of Iraq. They have infiltrated the official security forces, especially the police. Meanwhile, Iraqis have less electricity, clean water, sewage treatment and oil than before the war. Iraq's government ministries are barely functional. Iraq looks closer to a failing state than an emerging democracy.
