Statistics do have a meaning here. The war thrust upon Iraq in utter disregard of world opinion once looked like ending in a decisive US victory. The far superior military might did the trick, but the military strategists perhaps did not take the lessons of history into account.

The lessons have now brought them back down to earth. As popular resistance is getting stiffer day by day, President Bush cannot simply concentrate on implementing his long-term plan. Time is now a crucially important factor. In the latest attack, two US choppers were brought down and no fewer than 17 soldiers lost their lives.

The guerilla warfare has created a very difficult situation for the US troops. Any counter attack on the civilian population further pushes them away from the target of winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. And President Bush's popularity rating in his country is dropping with the rise in the number of dead soldiers.

President Bush has to do something to prevent further escalation of the Iraq crisis. Trying to take on the guerillas in a prolonged war would mean more deaths on both sides. So the only option open to him is to heed world opinion and withdraw from Iraq. President Bush does appear to have that option in mind, but he is still convinced that his mission will not be over until Saddam Hossain is captured.

World opinion has also been tipped heavily by the goings-on in Iraq in favour of an early solution to the crisis. The centrality of the UN role in rebuilding the country is at issue. And even a close US ally like Japan is hesitant about having a direct role in Iraq under the prevailing circumstances.

The US should lose no more time in realising that it cannot keep a nation subjugated on even a medium term basis.