Cliff: Ralph Peters, if you read closely, was riding around Baghdad in a Humvee. Security conditions in the city would not have permmitted him to stroll around on his own. That is three years into the occupation.

It’s nice that the Baghdadis are driving their cars, running their businesses, and going to their jobs. Perhaps, after one year or two years, they got tired of sitting at home doing nothing. This tells us nothing about the future of Iraq.

Of course most Iraqis would like to live normal lives, and do not wish to be blown up. The same, I am sure, was true of most Russians in 1916, or most Germans in 1932, or most Iranians in 1978. This is facile stuff. Getting from what most people want, to a political order that will provide it, is some trick, as the history of the human race surely demonstrates. Can the Iraqis pull it off? Can we pull it off for them? Those are the issues.

Yes, I know, Rummy said it’s going to be “a long, hard slog.” But — three years into the occupation, and we still haven’t secured the capital city? For goodness’ sake.

I find Peters’ columns increasingly irritating.