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While 22,000 troops from 30 nations are on duty in the country, terrorist activity
and ongoing guerilla-style attacks have made it difficult for them to maintain
peace as well as rebuild schools, energy and water systems, and begin exporting
oil, Iraq's most profitable industry. One strategy of anti-U.S.
groups is to sabotage the rebuilding process so that Iraqis will become frustrated
and turn against the coalition forces. Last month, a series of attacks on
oil pipelines led to fuel shortages in the country. The same weekend, looters
destroyed electricity cables, which led to power failures. A similar attack on
Baghdad's water supply left 300,000 people without water. The attacks also
have had major implications for Iraq's economy and for aid agencies' ability to
help its people. Following the United Nations bombing, the organization pulled
a majority of its Iraq staff, many of them charged with bringing food and other
aid to Iraqis.  U.S.
and Iraqi officials believe the attacks - which have killed 65 U.S. soldiers since
the war officially ended May 1 - have been carried out by those loyal to ousted
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
"This outrage is designed to create the
maximum damage to the people in Iraq, to create sectarian violence and sectarian
strife," Ahmed Chalabi, leader of the Iraqi National Congress, said Friday
after the mosque bombing. "It is the work of Saddam." Some countries
have blamed the upheaval on America's refusal to share control of Iraq. While
Secretary of State Colin Powell has asked for help from outside nations, he has
also said the United States would not relinquish political or military leadership
of Iraq to any other nation. Several countries, including France and Russia, have
refused to send troops or money to help until the United States turns over political
control to the United Nations. So far, the United Nations has played only a humanitarian
role in Iraq.  On
Thursday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said the United States
might consider allowing a U.N.-led peacekeeping force to enter Iraq but would
still maintain command of that force.
Meanwhile, the search for weapons
of mass destruction continues. Earlier this year, President Bush listed Saddam
Hussein's possession of those deadly weapons as a major reason for war. The
issue has become a sore point among anti-war critics and politicians. A congressional
committee is currently conducting hearings about the weapons hunt and whether
President Bush may have overstated the threat to national security. | 
prominent
religious leaders and a supporter of U.S.-led efforts for peace. 
According
to Bremer, all of Iraq's universities have reopened, 90 percent of schools have
completed the school year, 100 percent of health clinics are serving patients
and 75 percent of the country's electric power is running as it was before the
war. Bremer also said that 50 percent of the desired police force is patrolling
the streets and that U.S. soldiers are training a new Iraqi army. 
Junior Arman Gupta's father was initially shocked when he brought up the idea of military school, but his father warmed to the idea.
