Misadventure:

The Iraqi Parliament has finally done something that the Bush administration, and many others, considered essential to political progress in Iraq: it passed a law intended to open government jobs to former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party. What should have been heralded as an accomplishment, however, may only serve to further reinforce the bumbling nature of President Bush’s ill-conceived adventure in Iraq.

No one, it seems, has a clear sense of what the law will do. Some suggest it could actually exclude more former Baathists than it lets in. The new law appears to create the possibility of pensions for former Baathists who held top national and regional-level jobs. But that so important a law remains shrouded in mystery and confusion is inexcusable. And the fact that just more than half of the 275-member Parliament was present to vote on the measure does not inspire confidence that Shiites and Kurds really want to reach out to Sunnis.

Administration officials continually lower the bar for Iraq. They admit that the law is not perfect but say it begins to set fairer standards. Iraq’s presidency council still must approve the law and could yet make improvements. Iraqis have to do a lot better to make their country work. Withdrawing US troops may finally persuade them to do that. — The New York Times