U.S. Envoy in Baghdad Says Iraq Is on Brink of Civil War

[leftchick]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/24/international/middleeast/24cnd-iraq.html?hp&ex=1140843600&en=119b44a89b20a6a6&ei=5094&partner=homepage

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 25 - The American ambassador to Iraq said Friday that the country was on the precipice of full-scale civil war, and that Iraqi leaders would have to come together and compromise if they wanted to save their homeland.

The ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, made his remarks as sectarian fury in the streets appeared to ebb after two days of reprisals over the bombing of a major Shiite mosque. The violence prompted the most powerful Sunni Arab political group to suspend talks with Shiite and Kurdish politicians on forming a new government. "What we've seen in the past two days, the attack has had a major impact here, getting everyone's attention that Iraq is in danger," Mr. Khalilzad said in a conference call with reporters.

The country's leaders, he added, "must come together, they must compromise with each other to bring the people of Iraq together and save this country."

Mr. Khalilzad's comments are the most explicit acknowledgment so far by an American official of the instability of the situation, and the fragility of the entire American enterprise here. The killings and assaults across Iraq that began Wednesday have amounted to the worst sectarian violence since the American invasion.

[NNadir]

1. Brink?

[benburch]

3. Must be some strange new definition of "brink"...

of which I was previously unaware.

[PurityOfEssence]

17. It's sort of "pre-throes", I guess

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.

Hey! Where's my paddle?

[Demeter]

2. I Think We Are Several Days Past the Brink

and drowning in it.

[mymomwasright]

4. Yet, young American blood is still a fair price to pay (spill)....

for the Iraqi people's freedom, is it not? :sarcasm:

[rodeodance]

5. gee, the words -civil war--are all of a sudden being uttered by media and

people in high places. drip.

[coffeenap]

8. Civil war, the ultimate exit strategy...

:cry:

[rodeodance]

6. "precipice"---ah--just before

the AAAHHHHH.........

[Tin Man]

7. We've 'turned the corner' from 'final throes' to the 'brink of civil war'

...can't wait to hear what euphamism Rummy will invent to describe this development. :crazy:

[jimshoes]

9. Golly,

It's just a democratic people exercising their right to blow each other to smithereens. Look, freedom is messy.

Something like that.

P.S. Rumsfeld is insane.

[saigon68]

15. FREEDOM IS ON THE MARCH

OR "LET FREEDOM REIGN"

---the chimp

[donkeyotay]

18. Other than letting Bush off the hook for bring it, Civil War sounds harsh

Especially now that we've brought them democracy, so this must be more along the lines of partisan politics. Maybe they're playing partisan politics or exercising their right to bear arms or expressing their opinion the way King George allowed his people to express theirs in Free Speech Zones and by being a "focus group" before he got his war. Maybe Iraq is just a free speech zone. Kind of makes you wonder how Afghanistan is going and how the world could possible tolerate George starting another war.

[Missy M]

10. Bush's democracy at work in the Middle East....

leads to a Civil War between religious sects, how ironic:grr:

[Massachusetts]

11. Why do we let OUR elected Reps do this to OUR TROOPS!

deja vu

[Tyler Durden]

12. DUHH, Ya think?

I'm getting so tired of all of this.

Used to be us "elders" got to sit on the porch and answer questions on the meaning of life...

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. 24 hours ago: "US Downplays Civil War Threat"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2126227

[leftchick]

21. perhaps it is getting to hard for them

to deny the obvious anymore.

[MrPrax]

14. Took long enough...

The intel reports from the 90s concluded that it would be either 'Saddam's Iraq without Saddam' or a 'civil war'--since a democracy was never intended.

Mission Accomplished!!

[warrens]

16. Pffft. This administration is going down in history

As the least competent ever. You can't even call these clowns nazis anymore; whatever else you can say about the real nazis, incompetent is not one of them.

[Lexingtonian]

19. 'freedom and democracy': Mission Accomplished

I think someone should ask Karen Hughes about her "we create reality" remark again.

[KansDem]

20. So did the New York Times...for about an hour or so...

...before changing its headline to "endangered future."

Don't want to make the Wafia look bad!

[VaYallaDawg]

22. U.S. media is going to get severly scolded by Admin., if they call it that

[ConcernedCanuk]

23. Bush and Gang have unleashed all the tensions that Saddam had in control.

.
.
.

Granted, Saddam was not a "nice" guy in our eyes - but he had CONTROL

Something the USA is sorely lacking, while killing tens of thousands of innocents, sacrificing thousands of American lives, ruining lives of countless others across the globe with their poisonous Depleted Uranium - and losing the trust and respect of the rest of the world in the process . .

BUT

Sumthing the Illuminati never counted on in sacrificing the USA as their base for global control - -

The internet

We can find out what happened before it ever hits the news -

[VegasWolf]

24. Dammit, WHO was stupid enough to open Pandora's Box???? nt

[henslee]

25. Cool. When its over and the dust has settled, Mel Gibson can make a movie

out of it.