By early 2005, it was clear that the Bush administration had found itself stuck in a war it did not anticipate in Mesopotamia, fighting against an insurgency it did not understand, and unable to turn itself around and march out. There were other important stories at the time: Zimbabwe"s descent into economic and political hell, the re-election of Tony Blair, and unsuccessful referenda aimed at approving the EU constitution. However, the quagmire in Iraq remained the biggest global problem of all.