Civil War in Iraq

The conflict in Iraq has become an all-out civil war. The Bush administration may deny this, mostly because calling it so would further disillusion the American people and cast further doubt, in the public mind, as to Mr. Bush's ability to bring this catastrophic adventure to a timely and justifiable end.

The map on the left (click on image to enlarge) is a breakdown of the religious and ethnic divisions in Iraq, and their geographical locations. These ethnic and religious divisions define the interested sides in this civil war.

While the Iraqi people are divided amongst themselves, and armed groups from the Sunni and Shia sides are engaged in a bloody cycle of revenge killings which claims thousands of Iraqi lives every month, most of the Iraqi people believe that life will get better once the occupiers have pulled out. But this cannot happen as long as Mr. Bush and his administration cling to their "We'll succeed unless we quit" policies.




This map on the left (click to enlarge) shows the ethnic and religious breakdown of Baghdad. Names like Sadr City, which have become everyday terms to millions of people around the world, are brought into focus by this map.

The ethnic cleansing of neighborhoods by armed militias, and the endless and bloody cycle of revenge attacks that claim hundreds of lives everyday in Baghdad, is nothing short of anarchy and civil war.

The Iraqi government, crippled by a non-existent civil service and and an ineffective judicial system, undermined by security services with mixed loyalties and separate political agendas, is in no shape to govern...nor will it ever be so. Mr. Bush is in denial if he thinks that staying the course until this Iraqi government can stand on it's own constitutes a strategy for winning this war. Iraqification is, in fact, a recipe for interminable occupation.

It is inevitable that the only "outsiders" that may be able to arbitrate a peaceful solution to Iraq's current problems are it's immediate neighbors. Countries like Iran, Syria, and Turkey all have a better chance of bringing the warring factions to the table and forging any long-term resolution of this conflict. It is not only in the interests of the Iraqis that these nations will participate, but it will be in their own vital interests to see a peaceful end to both the occupation of the Americans and the civil war that that has been the direct result of that occupation.

It is time to leave Iraq. The occupation of that country by Western troops is not going to make things better, in fact it is exacerbating the situation. The long-term interests of the West amount to little more than the supply of oil, and the damage that has been done, to both the Iraqi people and the world at large, in the pursuit of those interests is criminal.

Civil War In Iraq