Tony Cordesman, an ABC News consultant, writes: "We need to be careful not to focus too much on possible US crimes in Iraq and ignore what seems to be the failure of the operation to take back control of Baghdad and bring the militias back under control. The weekend indicates that this operation has accomplished nothing that really help reestablish order in a city where even the most conservative counts indicate close to 60% of the violence in Iraq is now occurring."
"The question of whether the Mahdi militia simply lashed out or deliberately attempted to destabilize the new government is equally critical. The most important single test Maliki faces in the short run is showing he can establish order in the capital, make sure the MOI and MOD do not support Shi'ite violence, and that the militias are under control. So far, he is failing on all three counts — along with a long-planned US effort to have Iraqi forces establish control once the new government was chosen."