>You are probably right. A deliberate aim at civil war (or "chaos") seems
>unlikely -- but only unlikely, not inconceivable. The outcome of such
>chaos might be the Balkanization of Iraq, which would be preferable, I
>presume, to a unified state under an anti-u.s. government.
It would be, but the risks of promoting chaos are extremely high - wider regional war and a huge spike in oil prices. They don't give a fuck what happens to Afghanistan, but I'm pretty sure they care what happens to the Middle East.
Doug