George W. Bush's trip to Asia is turning into a metaphor for his second term as US president. Wherever Mr Bush goes he cannot escape the increasingly partisan debate over Iraq. Other questions, some of profound importance such as US-China relations, occasionally hove into view. But Iraq overshadows everything else and saps the president's ability to shape a broader agenda.

Mr Bush is fighting a war on two fronts: on the ground in Iraq and at home. The two are entangled in deeply unproductive ways. The discovery by US forces of a secret prison run by Iraq's interior ministry exposes the penetration of Iraqi institutions by militia with sectarian agendas. Yet the rush to stand up Iraqi forces capable of replacing US troops gives the US few alternatives but to rely heavily on the likes of the Badr brigades, in and out of uniform.