When Freedom Leads to Anarchy
The Bush administration, ill prepared to curb the lawlessness that has swept Iraq, is reinforcing one of the world's most powerful antidemocratic forces: the fear of chaos. Even as looting subsides, vigilantism flourishes. Revenge killings are reported to have begun in Kirkuk, and Kurdish militiamen are said to be ousting Arabs from villages around the city.

Unless the United States moves quickly to counter its mistakes, Iraqis are unlikely to trust their security to an open, pluralistic form of government. Public anxiety about disorder has been used to rationalize practically every police state, from left to right, from Moscow to Buenos Aires. Now, in part because of negligent planning in Washington, the notion is taking root in Baghdad that freedom means anarchy.

American ground commanders who said the war plan provided too few troops were right for the wrong reasons. There were enough soldiers during battle — but not enough afterward. There was plenty of fire power from air and armor but not enough visible power in the streets to create an impression of American control. If trained military police units had been deployed, they and large numbers of regular soldiers could have been stationed strategically and obviously as a symbol of order until Iraqi police forces were reconstituted in sufficient numbers.…
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/18/opinion/18SHIP.html