> 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.
I'm not so sure that's right. I've always gotten the idea that the main US policy goal in Iraq was to have Iraq be a potent force in the world oil market; breaking it up means less of a wedge against Saudi Arabia when required. The stuff about bases, etc. is just opportunistic: of course the Pentagon would love more bases over there, but they've shown themselves to be crafty enough to do things like build up Qatar.
/jordan