Sadaam may have been many things to different people, but this kind of shit WAS NOT Happening.

Without the strongarmed assholes running these countries, the tribalism is way more powerful than their ability to cooperate.

That should be the lesson of Iraq and the Middle East. It's not even about religion, it's deeper than that. The religion goes with the tribe.

But the tribes are aligned along religion, not vice-versa.

I could be wrong on that, but I don't think so.

Always happy to oblige, my friend.

God, what's with this stuff? If religion is a moral framework like theists universally claim, how can anybody justify religion when this happens so often? Where are the morals in these actions?

a bad combination.

Iraq isn't going to get better anytime soon. Syria will likely remain in similar situation for many years to come. If Assad falls, for all we know things could get even worse (if that's even possible).

The Sunni-Shiite split is fundamental and goes back to the founding of the religion itself. This is a Saudi-Iran proxy war being played out, with the US and Russia being the main respective backers (at least in terms of arms). Of course for the US and Russia it's not about religion, it's about energy and who controls the flow of oil. After all, SA and Russia are the two biggest oil producing nations.

The population growth rate is about 700,000 / year or roughly 2000 / day. So 100 killings/day doesn't dent population growth.

just as Tito kept the lid on all the ethno/religious/ethno-nationalism in Yugoslavia during his days. It is sad to think that ethno-nationalism is such a strong force that sometimes only totalitarianism with the threat of brutal force is able to suppress it.

and lots of people who just wanted to get along and live peacefully are going to change their minds.

This is what "terrorists winning" looks like.