Shifting Power

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The fury and chaos of the past three weeks in Iraq have had a profoundly sobering effect on Washington. With Shi'ite unrest spreading in the southern part of the country and fierce military battles erupting in Fallujah, the city west of Baghdad that has become the core of Sunni resistance, the Administration risked completely losing control in Iraq. The U.S.'s certitude that it could pacify Iraq on its own has been replaced with a new deference to the U.N., hopeful talk about a fresh Security Council resolution that would ratify the U.N.'s political role in Iraq and frank acknowledgment that removing the American face from the year-old occupation is vital to defusing the insurgency and steering Iraq toward self-rule. The instant embrace of the Brahimi plan was an indication of how little time the U.S. and its allies have to lose if they hope to get help sorting out the mess. "This is a historic struggle," Blair said in the Rose Garden last week, "and we're at a very, very crucial moment."

The outcome is still far from settled. What started as a U.S. counteroffensive against insurgents on two fronts had by the end of last week become a tense standoff in Shi'ite-and Sunni-dominated regions. U.S. officials held talks with Iraqi intermediaries aimed at suspending coalition military assaults, which many pro-American Iraqis believed was doing more harm than good in winning hearts and minds across the country. The diplomatic tack looked more likely to bear fruit in the Shi'ite-dominated south, where fighters loyal to the young Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr seemed to be abiding by a cease-fire, even as U.S. troops staged outside the holy city of Najaf. In Fallujah, by contrast, rebels killed nine U.S. Marines in a breach of the truce declared by U.S. commanders. A man who claimed to have participated in the insurgency in Fallujah was interviewed by TIME and gave a chilling description of a recent attack on the Marines there. He said when three U.S. tanks, six humvees and about 70 Marines entered the Nazar district of Fallujah, a group of 25 insurgents ambushed them with a Russian-made PK machine gun, an RPG and AK assault rifles; destroyed one tank and disabled another; and fled before the Americans could return fire. On Saturday coalition forces unexpectedly announced that the main highways leading north and south from Baghdad had been closed indefinitely to civilian traffic. The official reason given was repair work, but a coalition military source said the roads were "very dangerous and under intense enemy pressure."

Any hope that the U.S. could soon impose order was further tempered by the insurgents' proclivity for kidnapping foreigners, including U.S. soldiers. On April 16 al-Jazeera broadcast a videotape of Private First Class Keith Maupin, 20, of Batavia, Ohio, surrounded by fighters who had taken him hostage after the convoy in which he was traveling on April 9 was attacked outside Baghdad. Other members of that convoy, which included private contractors, are still missing.