It's pretty obvious that the two sects are killing each other because
they both think the other side is collaborating with the invaders,
which
is US.

It's pretty obvious to people who look back further than this decade,
that those two sects have been killing each other for centuries before
the US existed.


I have not looked into this very deeply, but the stuff that I saw
indicated that Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq were not fighting each other
-- in major ways -- until later part of the 20th century. I will
appreciate some facts on this matter.

i

The thing about Iraq is that it's history is the longest on record, it being
the cradle of civilization and all of that. Consequently, they have had time
for everything to have happened and over and over for dozens of times. There
have been times when both sects got along and there have been times when
they have fought each other tooth and nail. It all depends upon which
century you are talking about.

Right now they have divided the country pretty much into ethnic/geographic
centers for each group. Just what you would expect if you knew anything
about Iraq's history. Shiites have driven the Sunnis out of Baghdad so there
is going to be less killing there. But now that the British are pulling out,
another 1,000 of them are leaving the country by December, southern Iraq is
now becoming a battleground for the different Shiite factions. You have a
number of different wars going on Iraq at the same time. Sunni vs Shiite,
Insurgents vs US, Iran vs Us; you get my drift.

The bottom line is that because we removed the dictator in Iraq the people
there are in the process of sorting out who is going to be in power
regardless of what the US wants or had plans to do. A power struggle between
Iraqi factions is happening and nothing anyone does is going to stop it. The
current Iraqi government would fall immediately if not for US troops keeping
them in power. Whether an accommodation is reached between the parties,
highly unlikely, a new dictator takes over, the tribes separate into
individual states, or anarchy reigns, some kind of end will come and it will
be the choice of the Iraqi people, not us. The US can get out soon or later
but the result will be the same. Iraqis will sort out for themselves what
they want for their country. Just like they have done without any help from
us for the last few thousand years. Which is a difficult concept to grasp
for a country that has become as arrogant as ours is.

Hawke