The Conservative Revolution 333taxes, reforming Medicare, and reor ganiz ing other social insurance
projects by encouraging the participation of private business entities.
S o the wa r in Iraq continued unabated, and with each passing
month public approval for Bush lessened as the killing, especially of
Iraqi civilians, mounted. Furthermore, the cost of the war each month
soared into the billions of dollars. At the same time both Bush and
Vice President Cheney assured the nation that great progress was being
made and victory was imminent. In the summer of 2004 , the Coali tion
Provisional Authority transferred its authority to an interim Iraqi gov-
ernment, and Paul Bremer returned home. He was replaced by U.S.
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. Then, in January 2005 , a national
election was held to elect an assembly that would write a new constitu-
tion for Iraq. Kurds from the north and Shiites from the south re-
sponded heartily to this opportunity—the Sunnis in the central section
less so—and together they formed a co ali tion government. In October,
a new constitution was approved and Nuri al-Maliki was chosen as
prime minister. Ambassador Khalilzad worked out an agreement to
amend the constitution so that Sunnis could participate in this govern-
ment, but nothing came of it. Khalilzad was replaced in March 2007 by
the veteran diplomat Ryan Crocker.
Then, on February 22 , 2006 , the war took a turn for the worse when
terrorists—presumably Sunnis—destroyed one of the holiest of Shiite
shrines, the gold- domed Askariya Mosque in Samarra, and Iraq de-
scended into full-scale civil war. Hundreds of corpses, many with visible
signs of torture, were discovered in alleys and vacant lots. It has been
estimated that at least 10 , 000 civilians died in the final months of 2006.
The situation had become so bad that the American people began
having doubts about prolonging the war. And an increasing majority
felt the invasion had been a mistake. Bush’s popularity went into a
steep decline and fell into the 30 percent approval range. Secretary of
Defense Rumsfeld also faced mounting criticism, even from the military,
and he later resigned from office. A number of retired generals voiced
their complaints about how the war had been initiated, how it had been
planned and executed, and how unacceptable was the cost in lives and