Civil War in Iraq?

There was a recent article in the New York Times in regards to this topic. The problem is that neighboring arab nations may respond to the call of aid from the different ethnic groups. With the Shiite Irani people to the north and the Sunni Saudi people to the south, there is a lot of room for disaster in-between. For now, the best thing we can hope for is that Iran does not get a means of producing nuclear weapons as they would be one of the largest threats in the event of a full-scale middle east war.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

In the case of a civil war, Iraq may end up like Yugoslavia but there is also the possibility of bordering nations attempting to annex or conquer a divided Iraq.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Quote:

Paradoxically, announcing now a timetable for the inevitable withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq could give Washington additional leverage in influencing all sides to accept the necessary compromises.

Giving these people a timetable of when the US is leaving also leaves room for certain groups to plan attacks on other groups, possibly by using terrorist "allies" who are trying to provoke a civil war. At this stage, a timetable sounds like a bad idea in general. The US people want to know when their troops are coming home, I'd suggest that the government have a general list of goals that need to be accomplished and stick with that instead. Unless of course... that things end up costing way too much and the US finds that it can no longer afford the war.

Quote:

The central thrust of U.S. policy in Iraq must now be to help Sunnis organize an autonomous region and to convince Shias and Kurds that it is in their interest to make this possible.

Wouldn't separating the ethnic groups only make it simpler for them to end up in a nasty civil war? I would think that it'd be easier for me to not worry about accidentally hurting my friends if only my enemies were in front of me.

The sad reality is that these people aren't going to be happy with some territory or political representation. The Sunnis, the minority of the population, were once in control and decentralized goverment where the majority rules is not in their best interest... ever.

In my opinion what is needed in Iraq is integration, not separation. Unfortunately I largely doubt that the Iraqi people are at a stage where they can accept integration.

So what are the options? Integrate the population almost forcefully and they will be angered, upset, and violent. Split the population and they'll likely go to war and possibly drag other neighboring nations in the conflict with them.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.