Iraq on the Brink: How Likely Is Civil War? - Newsweek World News - MSNBC.com

Iraq on the Brink: How Likely Is Civil War? - Newsweek World News - MSNBC.com

Why the change in tone? In part because Iraqi party leaders who had been cavalierly indulging in sectarian politics suddenly found themselves "staring into the abyss, and they were recoiling," says a U.S. official in Baghdad who would speak only if he were not identified. "You looked into the eyes of these officials, and it looked like they had been scared straight."

Didn't I at one time say that the way this new democracy was being formed would only lead to more pain and heartache? Let me check...

[checks]

Yup. Well, in a manner of speaking.

Perhaps [this idea] would (a) ease insurgency amongst the Muslim countries and (b) reinforce the unity that is supposed to exist amongst all Muslims (there's a Muslim word for this unity that I cannot recall). This USA should be based on common tenets of Islam...

I'll say for the record that I'm not a Muslim, nor do I think I could ever believe in their way of thinking. But it is their land, after all; and if we expect them to act like a responsible political entity, maybe--and this is putting the cart before the horse--we should treat them like one?

I wonder if at least part of all this animosity in the insurgency is a cry for respect.

Still think what the insurgents are doing is stupid, though. It fixes nothing. Just like when my two-year-old throws a tantrum because I won't let him have any of my beer. Won't change anything. Sorry. Well...won't change anything for the better.

Edit: I forgot about this relevant link. And this one.