Iraq security - lax or jaded?

There is something seriously wrong with the security in Iraq. It is obviously too easy for terrorists to be able to wreak havoc wherever they choose.

On Thursday, the most high profile place of their choosing was the cafeteria in the Iraq parliament building. It is situated in the middle of the "Green Zone" - an area so described because it is considered one of the safest and most secure in Baghdad, if not Iraq.

Yet despite all the alleged precautions taken by both the Iraq security forces and the American military with its sophisticated equipment, suicide bombers are still able to penetrate these havens.

On Thursday also, Al Sarafiyah bridge, which has stood for over 75 years linking vital parts of Baghdad over the River Tigris, was demolished by a driver of a truck laden with explosives.

What is astonishing about this particular act of terror is that there were armed security personnel at both ends of the bridge, there to check vehicles traversing the bridge.

Can it be that the armed forces are so incompetent and are not checking vehicles and personnel adequately? It seems the obvious conclusion to make when so many attacks are made upon innocent members of Iraqi society.

There is another interpretation though, which is that the troops have become exhausted by their tour of duty, which has been extended with leave time reduced. To remain constantly on 100 per cent efficiency and alert to all sorts of possibility of attack is mentally and physically debilitating.

The armchair generals in the Pentagon will find it easier to extend tours of duty for those on the battlefront, than the young military who face the line of fire on a daily basis.

It is time the White House got an alternative to using military might, which anyway is not working.