Let’s see how this plays out. The civil war becomes so bad the US is forced to pull out in the same manner we pulled out of Viet Nam leaving all our equipment behind. Saddam gets broken out of prison. With all the US equipment at his disposal and all his armed supporters come a running and once more he is in power. He goes on a rampage, once again kills thousands of Iraqis in the process of restoring his regime. So much for Democracy in the Middle East. And how will Bush spin this? Uh, I vow to leave no stone unturned in my search to bring Osama to justice, Dead or Alive!

Hey, when you look at history, stranger things than this has happened. I would laugh except it would be just too, too much to take any pleasure in even if it does make Bush and friends look exactly like the bumbling fools they are!

The neo con elites who have railed against elites (liberals that is)have now been exposed as inept and unwilling to learn from history as the idiot in the WH

I’m no history scholar, but it’s my understanding that war has plagued the region since records have been kept. I recall reading that Alexander the Great did battle on that soil and that, to some degree or other, the peoples of the region have been “at war” with one another ever since.

I guess my point is that there seems to be a centuries old “culture of conflict” amongst the tribes and religious cults of the area. The invasion by the USA & allies hasn’t helped the situation but it’s perhaps unfair to blame the ongoing strife entirely on their presence.

Until the Iraquis learn, ON THEIR OWN, how to live with one another in peace and collective prosperity, it’s almost a given that any “solution” imposed by foreign INFIDELS will only exacerbate the situation.

And, even if they NEVER learn to live peacefully “on their own,” the rest of us should learn to MIND OUR OWN BUSINESS and stay out of it!

Too damn bad - for them - they have oil.

The leaders of this country can now stand side by side with Sadam Hussein as an equal in bringing misery to that bereaved country.

When security on a personal or family level cannot be reasonably guaranteed, people will latch on to whoever can supply physical safety.  These poor people in Iraq have only their religious affilation and tribe to which to cling for this physical safety.  Failure to secure the major population areas in the first hours and days of the invasion doomed the entire enterprise from the beginning.  Civil war was predicted but not planned for.  There is nothing any one person, group of people, or country can do now except stand back and watch in horror as the Iraqi people suffer and die.  The entire responsibility lies with a Republican party that values gold and personal enrichment above all.  Surely they cannot really believe in God, can they?  What am I saying?  When your God is gold belief doesn’t enter into it.