Newsweek: Iraq civil war inevitable?

[Cannikin]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/Default.aspx?id=3927768&p1=01%7C%7C%7C%7C003

Refereeing in Hell
GIs are dying. Rival factions are turning on each other. After freeing Iraq, can we keep it from coming apart?

That thought scares Americans and Iraqis alike. Even if the transfer of authority allows GIs to step back from the front lines, deadly rivalries between Iraqis could make last week's bloodshed look like national unity. And an election-year U.S. troop drawdown is all but impossible. "If the Americans leave, there will definitely be a civil war,"

[Sagan]

1. Yes, it's inevitable.

Iraq was an unnatural geographic conglomeration. Essentially, it is very similar to Yugoslavia. Without a Tito (or Saddam) to hold things together, things will fragment.

I'm not saying that Tito and Saddam were nice folks, by any stretch. But these are considerations that should have been thought of BEFORE the neocons set the bull loose in the china shop.

[Cannikin]

3. But of course, we took the more profitable route.

[Hubert Flottz]

2. Should Read: "American civil war II inevitable"

If there is any slight sign of slight of hand, in the upcoming November election!

[Nederland]

4. You assume

That Americans would be willing to get off the couch to participate.

[beyurslf]

5. Yes but only after we have secured all the oil drilling

areas. The rest of the sand lot can go to hell and fight amoung themselves. <sarcasm off>

[ochazuke]

6. Yes.

They'll shoot at us as long as we're there, and at each other when we leave.

Imagine 4th grade when the substitute teacher left the room to get the principal.

[SoCalDem]

7. Of course it is..

Look what happend to Yugoslavia.. Anytime a tyrant "unites" all the various factions against him, people can and will work together whether they like each other or not.. Remove the tyrant, and the jockeying for position has to happen.. People who have been oppressed forever, all of a sudden want to be in the catbird seat.. Mix in some fundamentalist religion, add ammunition dumps on every street corner, a large population of angry young men, and you have instant civil war..

This whole thing stinks, but it's bound to happen, and our presence there only adds fuel to the fire.. All the groups want us OUT, and at the same time they are going to fight each other.. How can we possibly recognize the "good guys"?? Each side thinks THEY are the good guys, and we still think they are ALL bad guys..

Recipe for catastrophe..:(