Reply #42: Civil war is civil war [View All]

Doesn't matter much to the dead whether they died over slavery or preservation of the Union.

Playing God? Far from it.

The best solution would have been not to invade at all. But the Pottery Barn Rule (yeah, I know, PB doesn't really have a rule like that) is in effect: We broke it, we own it.

Doesn't make any difference that we should have just left the place alone. We are there now and we have to find a way to get out without triggering a civil war, general chaos or some other such calamity. We now have that responsibility whether we want it or not.

Too much shit has hit the fan at this point for elections to solve anything. The place is barely controlled chaos. The UN refuses to even send in election monitors because it's so dangerous. They are going to monitor the election from Jordan, if you can believe that.

I won't suggest that partition is a magic solution. There are dangers. In fact, American interests would probably suffer under partition. Bush regime interests would be best served by a compliant Iraqi central government that keeps the place under control with repression that doesn't attract too much attention. Two or three governments creates problems, like a Shiite south linking up with Iran or Sunnis driving Shiite residents of Baghdad out of the city.

There isn't a perfect solution. The idea is to find the one that has the best chance of avoiding further bloodshed and getting our troops home.