THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

In a show of how well our lessons in democracy took hold in Iraq, government forces engaged in an armed confrontation with Sunni protestors on the outskirts of Kirkuk.

Iraqi security forces stormed a Sunni protest encampment in a village near the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, prompting clashes between government forces and gunmen that left dozens dead and wounded and sharply raised the stakes in Iraq’s sectarian troubles.

As of midday, according to security officials in Kirkuk, at least 33 civilians were dead, and nearly 100 people wounded. The Ministry of Defense said that 20 people it described as gunmen were killed, and 75 others arrested. The ministry said three soldiers were killed and nine others wounded.

The fighting, in a town called Hawija, represented the deadliest turn yet in a Sunni-led protest movement against the Shiite-dominated central government led by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki that began in December. The clashes sent shock waves through Sunni communities across the land.

In the seething Sunni populations of Anbar and Salahuddin Provinces, tribesman were mobilizing Tuesday after the fighting, declaring jihad, or holy war, and vowing to take the fight to the government. Near Hawija, reports emerged that claimed some armed Sunni tribesman had taken control of government checkpoints.

“The peaceful demonstrations are over due to what happened today,” said Saddoun al-Obaidi, a tribal leader in Hawija who was a leader of the protest movement. “Now we are going to carry weapons. We have all the weapons we need, and we are getting support from other provinces. This will not pass easily. Something bad will happen soon.”

Well, it seems that, in the grand tradition of American Imperialism, we have developed another well armed but incompetent government. It will be ugly and bloody as it plays out but it should make Dick Cheney happy in his final days.