Civil war possible in Iraq?

[Resistance]

By Tom Regan | csmonitor.com

History of grievances between sects leaves US officials wary.

Reuters reports that as the US struggles to find a formula to return sovereignty to Iraq, officials are worried about the potential for civil war in a country marked by religious and ethnic tensions. Although US officials in Iraq say that a civil war would be unlikely with 123,000 US troops in the country, they are still wary because of the history of mutual grievances between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and Kurds. Reuters says a "traumatic event" could trigger such an occurance, such as the assassination of a major religious political leader by another faction. Or, as Brookings Institution defense analyst Michael O'Hanlon points out, the chances of civil war may rise once US troops are gone.

"In the longer term, you have the very distinct possibility of the militias of the different ethnic groups being the most powerful military forces in Iraq. And if the national army doesn't hold together or doesn't turn out to be very powerful, you could have a situation where when we try to pull out in five years you see civil warfare at that point," O'Hanlon said.

[teryang]

1. Right, having a gov't imposed by an invader

...is better than "premature elections."

I'm sure Sistani will understand this. The Americans and UN know what is best for Iraq. We've done so well by them so far.



(sarcasm off)

[Sagan]

2. Possible? Try inevitable.

The parallels between Iraq and Yugoslavia are very compelling.

[FredrickDouglass]

6. Bush is trying to delay INEVITABLE CIVIL WAR until election

There is definitely going to be civil war in Iraq. The Bush administration is hating free elections like a vampire hates sunlight so everything has got to come to a head soon. If they don't allow free elections, and the Shiite leadership is smart enough not to take the inevitable bribe, there will be Civil War.

It's as simple as that.

[bemildred]

3. Five years ....

Hahahahahahahahahaha.
What an optimist.

[TheDebbieDee]

4. Screw that.......what about the civil war that could break out here...

If the American media ever start publicizing the fact that W's administration had been warned about the terrorists' acts well before September 11th.

[FredrickDouglass]

5. Warned????

Take a look at PBS' documentary where Silverstein, the owner of the Trade Towers says "we decided to pull #7" referring to a decision to demolish WTC #7 once it had been damaged and was on fire. He actually says this, more than once.
Now, doesn't it take weeks to set up a controlled demolition? Of course it does, there's all kinds of planning to be done. #7 fell at like 4 in the afternoon or something like that.

How in the hell did they just up and "pull" #7 with no prior planning? Is that possible? And the official line of the press is that #7 fell due to structural damage or some bullshit. He says in the documentary, "America Rebuilds" that he made the decision to "pull it".

Not that the press will EVER pay it any mind but if they do, we will have an uprising in the United States.