An Iraqi Civil War

[kmack]

sizource

In fact, it may already be too late to prevent Iraq from exploding. Iraq's new government is stuck in a fatal Catch-22: To have any credibility among Iraqis it must break with the U.S. and oppose the occupation, but it couldn't last a week without the protection of American troops. The Bush administration is also stuck. Its failure to stabilize Iraq, and the continuing casualties there, have led to a steady slide in the president's popularity: Polls show that a majority of Americans no longer think that the war in Iraq was worth fighting in the first place. Yet withdrawing from Iraq would only lead to more chaos, and the rest of the world has exhibited little interest in cleaning up America's mess. Of the two dozen or so countries that sent troops to Iraq, fewer and fewer remain: Spain, Portugal, Hungary and New Zealand have already quit, and the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Italy have announced they are getting out. Even if the United Nations agreed to step in, there is little or no chance that the administration will internationalize control over Iraq. In the face of a full-scale civil war in Iraq, says a source close to the U.S. military, Bush intends to go it alone.

dont waste your time calling me a defeatist please, just read the article and deiscuss how we will counter the difficulties on the road ahead (and now as well), if you believe there are any ( ). i personally liked the breakdown of the shiites and kurds.

 

[Razor]

It is an interesting article and something that i would agree with. For the Iraqi government to get the full support of the Iraqi people, they need to show the Iraqi people that they come first and that they are looking after the country, not America and Bush.

What Bush and Blair needs to do is step up the training and equipping of the Iraqi forces and police and then withdraw at a controlled rate, so as American and British forces decrease in number, they are replaced by an equal, or moreso, number of homegrown, home controlled Iraqi troops.

 

[gh0st]

they are replaced by an equal, or moreso, number of homegrown, home controlled Iraqi troops.

That would work if they didnt run away everytime they were shot at.

 

[kirovman]

That would work if they didnt run away everytime they were shot at.

Agreed. Training a decent police force takes a lot of time and resources. Good in theory.