From CNN:
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- On a day when bombs claimed at least 14 lives in Iraq and dozens more bodies were found in Baghdad, a top politician warned Wednesday that the country will collapse by year's end if warring groups fail to reconcile.
Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni Arab, urged his colleagues to support national reconciliation, the prime goal of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government.
"We have three to four months, and if the country does not survive this, the boat will sink," al-Mashhadani said during a parliament session after some lawmakers criticized parliamentary procedures.
Al-Mashhadani's remarks resonated as sectarian strife has escalated between Sunnis and Shiites since the February bombing of Al-Askariya Mosque, a Shiite shrine in Samarra.
This comes as the Shi'ite bloc in the Iraqi parliament has submitted legislation proposing the division of Iraq into autonomous regions, patterned after the Kurdish north. From AFP: "Shiite Lawmakers Submit Law to Break Iraq":
BAGHDAD, 7 September 2006 - Iraq’s dominant Shiite alliance yesterday submitted a draft of a new law to govern the division of the country into autonomous regions, as unabated violence left at least 17 people dead.
[...]
Sunni lawmakers have vociferously opposed the draft law on autonomous regions, saying it is a prelude to a carve-up of the country, which would leave them with just the resources-poor center and west of Iraq. But in recent days they appear to have softened their opposition, saying they would support the "administrative application of federalism" as long as a strong central government remains.
Either case -- violent collapse or federal break-up -- looks to spell a similar future for Iraq.
Iraq is a cesspool of indifferent citizens. They are dying at the rate of dozens per day at the hands of the Islamic terrorists. Yet, they stand idly by and do nothing. You do not see Islamic leaders promoting a fight against the terrorists, you do not see the Muslims promoting a stand against terrorists, you do not see anything promising that would indicate that the Iraqi populace is combatting terrorists. It appears the people are braindead or brainwashed by the mind control freaks known as Ayotollahs, Mullahs, or just other Muslims. The people could make it only if they destroy the Qur'an and the evil that controls their lives. Call it "Mission Impossible"
exsgtbrown, not only that -- heck, you don't even see enough Iraqis rallying or uniting to support their own national unity. If they don't believe in it, why should the rest of the world believe in it for them?
The fact that an Iraqi Sunni politician chooses to speak in apocalyptic terms doesn't mean for a minute that his views reflect realities on the ground.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ-fyst4-7w&mode=related&search=
Sorry it's so OT
Thanks to Little Green Footballs
patriots duaghter
What's similar about violent collapse and a federal breakup?
One is a bloody descent into anarchy and warlordism, the other is a legislated division of the country into autonomous areas. They're as different as night and day.
The autonomous Kurdish region is the most law abiding and peaceful in all of Iraq. It's also the cleanest. Sounds like a pretty decent role model to me.
If the Shiites get their own autonomous area, they will NOT allow the Iranian mullahs to come in and take control. Anybody who thinks otherwise doesn't understand human ambition.