America unsettled as Marines sucked into war in all but name

THE new wave of pitched fighting in Iraq, a war in all but name, is washing over an unsettled America.

Nearly a year after the main fighting was supposed to be over, combat-sized casualties on both sides and among civilians have become more than sporadic episodes on a journey to stable democracy.

Battles have been intense in a half dozen or more Iraqi cities and towns. Whether the struggle turns out to be simply the bloody price of progress or a serious setback in hard-won gains, Americans face the prospect of the attacks continuing into an indefinite future and the possibility of having to send more troops.

Many Americans, geared up for war and riveted by it at the outset, now see a muddled reality on the ground more sequel than aftermath and more images by the day of the dead, wounded and brutalised.

Pollsters are finding, for the first time, that people are evenly divided on whether troops should be kept in Iraq and whether unseating Saddam Hussein was worth the toll.

"What they're seeing is a transformation from battling a few insurgents to a full-scale rebellion against the United States," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Centre. "The public is seeing Iraq go from something that was problematic, to something that has really gone awry."

That's precisely how Johnny Vance, aged 39, a San Francisco construction worker, feels. "All we have over there is a big snake pit," said Vance. "I was against the war, but once we were in, you've got to support the troops. But we are up to our hips and stumbling in the dark, no matter what the Pentagon and the administration say."

Support for President George Bush's handling of Iraq has dropped to about 40% in recent polls, down from about 75% a year ago.

Veterans differed on comparisons between Vietnam and Iraq, where fewer than 500 Americans have died in battle and some 3,000 have been wounded.

"I see Vietnam happening all over again," said David Parker, aged 56, of New York, a Vietnam veteran who was a jet engine specialist in the Air Force in 1969. "But the shame is going to come if we just pull out of there."

Elsewhere in the capital, critics sharpened their calls for an exit strategy, invoking "echoes of Vietnam", as Democratic senator Robert Byrd put it.

"The latest round of violence in Iraq could be the spark that ignites a powder keg," said Charles Pena of the Cato Institute. Others, more hopeful, counselled patience and resolve.

"Is this a difficult political problem?" Republican senator John McCain asked. "Yes. Is this a time to panic, to cut and run? No."