Abstract
The official drawdown of US forces in Iraq yesterday, December 15, 2011, marked a time for reflection. It marked a time for reconciliation. It also marked the opening of the third act in the tragedy of the US-Iraq fiasco that welcomed the second millennium with a decade of turmoil and death. Neither the first act — the illegal invasion, nor the second act — the frustrating occupation, will measure up to the chaos of the third act — the ensuing break-up of the country and destabilization of the entire Middle East. And yet, the third act could have been largely avoided had the US worked to build stronger legal and constitutional structures during its long stay in the Mesopotamian desert.