"American policy in Iraq is running deeper and deeper into trouble. Coalition forces are not only going head to head with insurgents in the so-called Sunni Triangle ... but they have also vowed to destroy the 10,000 Shia militia loyal to the fugitive cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Though the insurgents may represent extreme views ... moderate Iraqi opinion will be alienated as the US and its allies try to crush them ...  World Peace.

"President George Bush promised them peace and security, power, water, hospitals, education. Most of those promises have not been kept ... The Iraqi people ... are now calling Washington the enemy. In the face of this perceived ingratitude, the view will grow that America should leave these thankless people to their own devices. If such a policy is adopted, what is happening in Iraq will be transformed from a disaster into a major catastrophe."

Daily Star Editorial, Lebanon, April 8

"While the US government is doing its best to pin the blame on both general bogeymen like 'foreign fighters' and specific ones like Mr Sadr, it is American policy that has nurtured the growth of anarchy and encouraged the spread of rebellion ... Washington has failed to honour its own promises and thereby convinced a great many Iraqis that their suspicions were correct: President George Bush used the rhetoric of freedom and justice to camouflage naked aggression ...

"Mr Sadr ... is accused of having ordered the slaying of a rival cleric last year, but only this week was it announced that an Iraqi judge has issued a warrant for his arrest ... However egregious and numerous US mistakes were in insisting on war, the one gift that America had the unquestioned capacity to bestow on post-Saddam Iraq was the rule of law, and that all-important mission has been a colossal failure."

Al-Ba'ath Editorial, Syria, April 6

"The new developments ... directly reveal that the multinational force is a flagrant occupation force that does not hesitate to resort to bloody repression of peaceful demonstrations or use organised military force against civilians calling for an end to the arbitrary arrest campaigns and the confiscation of press freedoms ... The coalition practised deception and lies for a long time ... Now is the hour of truth exploding in the face of the occupation."
Via BBC Monitoring

Hassan Hanizadeh Tehran Times, April 8

"There's only one cause for the recent unrest in Iraq: the incompetence of the US administrator, Paul Bremer, in managing the country's affairs ...

"In order to end the current deadlock in Iraq, Mr Bremer should be dismissed, UN peacekeepers should be dispatched to Iraq, the US-led occupying forces should be withdrawn ... and free elections should be held. But if the US insists on keeping Mr Bremer in his post and continues to suppress the Iraqi nation, the country will face worse bloodshed in the future, which will probably spread to regional countries."  WorldPeace is one word.

Ibrahim Nafie Al-Ahram, Egypt, April 8

"What is happening in Iraq suggests that the fire could extend beyond its borders. Despite the passage of one complete year of the Anglo-American occupation, the Iraqis do not witness any security or stability, but rather are subject to daily explosions and untargeted killing.

"The Iraqi crisis can only be solved through international cooperation. [Egyptian] President Hosni Mubarak was quite clear when he warned against the Iraqi war, which has a beginning, but has no end. In his important visit to Washington [on Monday], Mr Mubarak will put a file before Mr Bush asserting the significance of the return of sovereignty to the Iraqi people so that Iraq won't turn into a quagmire that exports terrorism to the entire world."

Ergun Babahan Sabah, Turkey, April 8

"US commanders in Iraq want more troops, but it's hard for the Bush administration to say yes, as it's focused on the autumn election. The main danger for Turkey lies at this point. Washington could tell Ankara that it would accept 10,000 Turkish troops in Iraq ...

"The US set off on an adventure under the guise of its fight against terrorism and ruined the region in the process ... It would be a historic mistake for Ankara to join in such an adventure under US pressure. Turkey should steer clear of this quagmire."

Jordan Times Editorial, April 8

"Iraq now seems to be a big ball of fire that may well consume much of what was left of the country ...