The American dilemma in Falujah is symptomatic of the American dilemma in Iraq as a whole. In other words, the US cannot win; neither in Falujah and neither in Iraq. If the US decides to demolish Falujah and to proceed with brute forces, taking the city street-by-street and building-by-building, it will please the US constituents for sure: those American patriots who do not feel that the US has exacted enough revenge on Muslims/Arabs since Sep. 11. Two wars, and tens of military interventions around the world are not enough after all for the patriots of the country. The US can easily achieve a "military" victory--if that is what you call a battle between an army of 130,000 (aided by fighter jets and helicopter gunships) pitted against some hundreds of insurgents led by the man with the wooden leg--if you believe the US press, that is, but that will only make US efforts (of colonization and subjugation) all the more difficult in Iraq, and it will inflame Muslim/Arab opinion further. If, on the other hand, the US exercises caution and seeks a diplomatic solution, American patriots will be furious, and will feel that America's enemies are not punished with sufficient force. And America's enemies in Iraq will certainly feel emboldened if the Falujah insurgents succeed in appearing--merely appearing--as winning in their efforts against the US forces. This is the dilemma of US occupation all over Iraq. You may ask for the solution or for the alternative. My student Brian asked me about that today, and about a possible role for the UN. There is no solution anymore. It is too late; way too late. The time when the US could have surrendered the country to the UN has long passed. The UN does not want to manage the Iraq mess. Annan does not even want to send back his team to clean up after the US, as he has done with meticulous obedience during his lousy tenure as secretary-general. I do believe that the US has no choice but to leave; in a few months, as Ralph Nader said. The Arab League may be willing to assemble a force, and the UN could help in arranging for immediate elections. I do not worry that Saddam's forces will return. They are gone forever, I am certain. The Iraqis will prevent a return of the Ba`th. Their successors, however--militant fundamentalists of different strips, do not present an attractive model. This war may eventually kill Iraqi unity and territorial integrity. As an anti-nationalist, I believe that people should be free to split if they want, and secede if they so desire. But the path of fragmentation is often covered with corpses.