Reply #18: that would definetly not have worked

[Djinn]

Turkey wont be allowing a Kurdish nation for the forseeable future - it would destabilise Turkey and therefore the EU. Sunni areas would have ended up with little or no oil therefore little or no income - a situation bound to lead to civil war. Shiite areas would almost definetly if given a free vote, elect a non western friendly government which would never have been allowed by the US (even under a Dem government)

Iraq also isn't quite as neatly divided into Kurd/Sunni/Shia as people imagine, and minorities living in partitioned areas would likely face discrimination if not outright slaughter