Mr. BURNS: What we find are credible accumulation of incidents and reports that we trust where people tell us that people wearing the uniforms of Iraqi security forces have abducted and killed mainly Sunni Arabs.

NPR: Sectarian Divisions Complicate Iraqi Security Training

Not surprisingly, many Arabs suspect that reforms in Egypt and elsewhere are cosmetic, intended mainly to appease the Bush administration, which actively preaches democratisation as a foil to extremism.

ECONOMIST: Tentative steps down the road to democracy | The

Most Iraqis share America's aims: the Shia Arabs and Kurds make up some 80% of the population, while the insurgents operate mainly in four of Iraq's 18 provinces.

ECONOMIST: America and Iraq