STEVEN DEN BESTE has some sensible observations on what’s going on in Iraq:

The Baathist insurgency thought that ongoing attacks would cause American demoralization and retreat. That didn’t work, because they monumentally misjudged the American character. But the goal of this attack is to inspire American fury. What they hope is that the Americans will be blinded by hatred and will do something extremely stupid: to punish the Sunnis collectively for the actions of the terrorist group. . . .

Paul Bremer understands that and seems to be responding to it appropriately. But he’s being criticized by hotheads who don’t seem to understand that swift, strong, broad reaction against Sunnis collectively would be a blunder of the first order.

Read the whole thing, along with these thoughts from Donald Sensing.