Doug Henwood wrote:
> [CLIP]
> >The past 10 days have seen such a quickening of these killings,
> >particularly by the insurgents, that many Iraqis are saying that the
> >civil war has already begun.
>
That may be. It is not wholly certain, however, that Washington can't get along with a fragmented Iraq. It is at least arguable that the _primary_ goal of U.S. policy in Iraq for the last 15 years has been simply the establishment of a permanent u.s. military force in the mideast. If Iraq were to be divided as Yugoslavia has been, with U.S. troops simply sticking to a few bases in one or more of the 'pacified' fragments, policy makers might just view that as a satisfactory outcome. The unpacified fragments could be left to handle their own internal affairs (with maybe an occasional bombing if they get too threatening). No significant element in the u.s. ruling structure gives a damn about what happens to the Iraqi people.
Carrol