Recommended Reading:

Dexter Filkin's The Forever War is a devastating and unforgettable account of our misadventure in Iraq.
The book makes clear that US mismanagement—that is, Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld', lead Iraq to utter and complete destruction, (not to mention adding fuel to the US economic collapse.)
It is unforgivable, and was totally unnecessary.

Bush Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and their cronies should be tried for war crimes, or possibly treason.

The fallout from this disastrous war will likely haunt us for generations to come.

The Iraqis despise us, and they will never forget it.
Estimated civilian casualties are in the hundreds of thousands, with millions displaced. All those live ruins and disrupted... it's unimaginable.

one particularly haunting excerpt:
"But whenever the prospect of normalcy presented itself, a long line of Iraqis always stood up and reached for it.... And they went to the slaughter. Thousands and thousands of them: editors, pamphleteers, judges and police officers... The Insurgents were brilliant at that. They could spot a fine mind or a tender soul wherever it might be, chase it down and kill it dead. The heart of a nation. The precision was astounding."

and who is left, and what kind of nation will they build?

Just remember it was the U.S.'s deposing of a democratically elected leader in Iran in 1953 and installing the shah and his brutal regime that helped bring about Islamic fundamentalism in the first place.... and so looking ahead— after 6 years of brutality, destruction and loss, It's not likely to lead to good will.

Despite the horrors, the book is definitely worth reading. A must read in fact, for anyone interested in understanding the complexity of the situation in Iraq.

Thankfully and miraculously the situation has seemingly, if cautiously improved...
the reason for the calm? "The Sunni Awakening" which despite it's misleading name is simple the US is PAYING Sunni insurgents not to kill everyone... so it's an illusion of calm...

how long can it last, and what happens when the new government tries to disband these "peacekeeping" militias?

more info on the current state of Iraq by Dexter Filkins here, and here.

plus The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg talks with Filkins on developments in Iraq in the last few years.

Filkins looks at the devolving situation in Pakistan here.