Iraq is teetering on the edge of Civil War, just days after a terror attack on a prominent Shia Mosque, known as the Golden Mosque, reprisal attacks against the minority Sunnis have increased significantly. Scores of people have been killed throughout the country, especially in Baghdad, outpacing the ability of the Iraqi government or the US led coalition to control.
So what does this mean? Those with long memories may think back to Lebanon when rival factions destroyed what was once a vibrant Arab nation, leaving only devastation and turmoil in its wake. The same fate now awaits Iraq. The rival Iraqi factions have proven themselves incapable of forming a national unity government. While a large number of Sunnis oppose any level of compromise, which results in a reduction in their level of influence as experienced during the Saddam era. Other Sunnis, who participated in recent elections, resorted to mob violence when the results didn’t turn their way, evidence to their willingness to abandon civility and the rule of law at the drop of a hat. While the majority of the Shia have committed themselves to a democratic Iraq, a sizable number have taken to acts of reprisals, sowing the seeds of continued violence in the country.
Other factors like Iraq’s neighbors have also contributed to growing unrest, with Iran working behind the scenes to create a Shia dominated government and Syria allowing free reign for Islamic radicals pouring across the border. In the wake of the mosque attack, Iran’s tyrannical president called the act the work of the US and Israel. “They invade the shrine and bomb there because they oppose God and justice,” President Ahmadinejad said. Naturally his accusations are without merit; nonetheless, his captive audience in Iran, immune to the truth, will accept Ahmadinejad’s words as gospel. There is one reality, however, that being the growing threat of all out civil war in neighboring Iraq. The US must relinquish authority to an autonomous Iraqi government and must remove itself from this simmering pot before it boils over.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/23/D8FUMST00.html
