Unconscionable outcome

Re “Maliki gathers strength, unsettling some in Iraq,” Nov. 24

It is a chilling thought, that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki could become a nicer despot, on the order of the late Saddam Hussein.

Is this what the trillions of dollars and thousands upon thousands of lives have gotten us, in the unholy occupation of a country that didn’t want us in the first place?

The Bush administration made Maliki what he is today by putting him in place and supporting him to the hilt. Instead of bringing the region together, The Times reports, Maliki appears to be tearing it apart by setting his own rules for creating a strong government.

Unfortunately, for millions of Americans who have stood against the war from the beginning, the emergence of Maliki as another strongman-type leader shows that instead of succeeding in Iraq, we may be losing the effort altogether.

A democracy, indeed.

William A. Harper

San Diego