An unmitigated disaster from beginning to end.

The Iraq was has been a disaster from beginning to end other than the small benefit of getting rid of Saddam Hussein. The complete lack of a coherent plan is still evident in so many things.

The American reconstruction authorities decided, however, that the first big rebuilding project to win hearts and minds would be a citywide sewage treatment system.

Now, after more than six years of work, $104 million spent, and without having connected a single house, American reconstruction officials have decided to leave the system unfinished, though they portray it as a success. It is just one element in a strategy to complete or abandon rebuilding projects before American troops leave in large numbers over the next year.