With new attacks by Sunnis on a Shiite mosque, and the two sides fighting between each other, is there going to be a civil war in Iraq? I think it's already going on, and there will be a three-way split of the country into Kurds, Sunnis, and Shiites. The whole place will be chaos.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/22/D8FUHGT03.html

"Insurgents posing as police destroyed the golden dome of one of Iraq's holiest Shiite shrines Wednesday, setting off an unprecendented spasm of sectarian violence. Angry crowds thronged the streets, militiamen attacked Sunni mosques, and at least 19 people were killed.

With the gleaming dome of the 1,200-year-old Askariya shrine reduced to rubble, some Shiites lashed out at the United States as partly to blame. "

I know that is the direction iraq is heading into. Colin powell warned Bush that our invasion would not solve their problems but escalate them leading to a bloody civil war. Many of his own party describe him as tone death to reality and bull headed. That is fine if he is an old geezer in Crawford but unfortunately this is the man making decisions for our country. Very scary!

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BLIND FAITH IN BAD LEADERSHIP IS NOT PATRIOTISM

ididnotvote4him based on how you quote even me two or three lines later you have no credibility whatsoever in quoting anybody. I think you should just stick to your own thoughts and not try to represent anyone else on what they think. Remember Montaigne before you speak and I quote, "Whoever believes any thing thinks it a deed of charity to persuade another to believe it. Which, that he may the better do, he does not hesitate to add something of his own invention, so far as seems necessary to remove the resistance and defect which he assumes to be in the other's conception."

Now there is no way that you know anything that Colin Powell warned Bush about unless you have a hard copy of a memo or else you were there. So me thinks you should also look up the definition of hearsay.

Learn to speak for yourself.

In any event, Colin Powell was no Marshall, Eisenhower, or McArthur. And he was a light year away from a Patton.

ididno... said, "Also please note I am careful to disclose if something I am saying is fact or opinion and also if I am unsure."

Did I miss something in the above "Colin Powell warned Bush..." Is it fact, opinion, or you are unsure. Of course you didn't include hearsay, did you? Does that count too or is it a fact. YOU DIDN'T CAREFULLY DISCLOSE.

I don't think they are as close to a bloody civil war as everyone thinks. And I'm also not sure it's such a bad thing if they split apart. The Kurds already basically run their own territory, the Shiites and the Sunnis might be happier not having to deal with each other. Part of the reason we fought the war was to give them a democracy and a choice of what to do. If they make the choice to have three different countries, who are we to say they can't? Really, they are only one country because of a British colonial mandate - there's not any historic or cultural reason that Iraq is one place.

LibertarianForever I think you got it right, but a split up will bring other problems which could in the final analysis be worse than a unified Iraq. But it is like you said, it is their choice, we as a country can show them where the water is but we can't force them to drink it. Personally, I think there would be great benefits in the future if they could learn to live together, but the whole problem merely illustrates the fallacy of the people who claim Isarel is at the root of all middle east problems. That is just plain wrong. If Isarel didn't exist, they would simply substitute eacy other.

25,

Colin Powell's interview was clear consise and left nothing to the imagination. I think you try to discredit anyone who disagrees with you! Your ramblings about right and left brain are a perfect example.

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BLIND FAITH IN BAD LEADERSHIP IS NOT PATRIOTISM

ididnotvote4him I would take that at face value from you if I didn't know how you distort and take out of context; but, unless someone else says the same thing I view all of your "he saids" with utmost skepticism.

I saw the Powell interview. He did say if this invasion leads to civil war then we will have created the most unstable mideat conflict the world has ever seen. I did catch the end of an interview yesterday by a military officer ( sorry guys it was on Fox) I jump stations a lot.... He said at this point it could go either way but if it does escalate to civil war then we have to pull back because we cannot back any radical side ina civil war conflict.

Eli I believe you. Of course that is a judgement by Colin Powell. Now Colin Powell is not GOD. Just because he says something does not make it so. Although I do believe a civil war would be a mess it just might bring certain facts to some closure. Sort of like the civil war in this country. It was terrible and one could certainly argue that the results of the war could have been obtained in a more peaceful way. Nevertheless, no one will ever know, but one thing we do know is the fact that it brought to a closure the slavery issue. Now in totality was that good or bad? I am not so sure it was all that good in view of the cost. I think it could have happened with a lot less cost in lives and money. Basically that should be the argument the people against the Iraq war should be making instead of all of the sniping. But the reason they don't is because it requires that they have an alternative and they don't. Sitting back and leting the so-called UN do something is wishful thinking. How can an organization that loads up the human rights commission with states Zimbabwe do anything useful?