Iraq is in chaos. As June 30 draws nearer, the spiraling violence in the war-shattered country shows no sign of abating.

A surge of fighting in five cities across central and northern Iraq on Thursday is the latest outrage.

The apparently coordinated attacks claimed at least 105 lives and wounded hundreds more -- most of them civilians.

The steadily escalating spike in violence reflects the uphill resistance that the occupation forces continue to meet days before the deadline for handing over sovereignty to Iraqis.

Certainly, the blasts were a bad omen for the transfer.

Needless to say, it was a huge mistake to invade Iraq without United Nations (UN) endorsement. Since then we have seen that Washington's notion of establishing a stable democracy is nothing but a pipe dream.

The endless bloodshed, and particularly the exposure of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison at the hands of US soldiers, has reinforced the perception that the self-claimed liberators' pledge to bring Iraqis a peaceful, stable and self-governed country is a sheer lie.

Iraq is still a battleground and the future of the country remains uncertain.

The United States risks overplaying its hand and creating a broader Iraqi rebellion.

Even if the uprising eventually fades out, the dwindling credibility of the transition plan has already taken another hefty body blow.

A UN resolution on Iraq, adopted early this month, rendered its support to Washington for its much-needed extended stay in Iraq after the end of the month.

The compromise gave Iraqi leaders symbolic control over the nation's security arrangements as it stopped short of granting them veto power over major US-led military operations.

Outside the Kurdish north, there is almost universal animosity for the occupation, and the US-engineered transition that analysts feel has enough holes to ensure continued repression and corruption, despite its veneer of democracy.

Thursday's attacks across the so-called Sunni triangle showed that, as the date for the transfer of limited power draws near, the escalating resistance will almost certainly increase in ambition if not frequency.

It is impossible to say if the coalition's superior firepower can bring an end to the violence.

The bloody insurgency may well linger on for years because, as the US media quoted those captured by the US forces as saying, the insurgents are now fighting for an end to the occupation.

The chaos no doubt overshadowed the new Iraqi interim government as it wrestled with a security crisis.

A return to stability in Iraq is imperative to the whole world.

It is impossible to build a better Iraq unless the United States speeds up the end of the violence-plagued occupation and the UN gets to have the loudest say during the postwar reconstruction.

(China Daily June 26, 2004)