The Hoodwinked Iraqis

Peter Slevin reports from Southern Iraq. Snippet:

"For all their ambivalence about U.S. power, Iraqis in the south are perplexed that the United States has not done more to help them now that the war is over. They watched on Kuwaiti television as President Bush pledged rejuvenation. They read the leaflets that fluttered from U.S. planes, rallying them to a bountiful new era. They saw U.S. military might roaring through the desert toward Baghdad. Yet looters wreaked havoc under the noses of U.S. and British commanders. Large-scale humanitarian aid did not arrive and the distribution of staples has not yet resumed. For all the joy about the overthrow of Hussein, political change has produced little but uncertainty. Iraqis across the region say they no longer know which end is up -- and no one is offering a set of instructions."