The Final Stage: Iraq begins the death spiral

It is a terrible thing, to see a nation coming apart at the seams.

But that is the vision before us in Iraq; or rather, the three ethnic substates that now make up the political fiction called Iraq. There is nothing left to hold what is, admittedly, an artificial construct of colonial politics together without the strongman/ideology/personality cult of Saddam (or any other like him.) A center may eventually emerge from the process that BushCo.’s invasion has set in motion, but it will be the winner(s) of this current conflict, a process over which we will have severely limited control at best.

Observe the nature of the fighting that is currently going on in Baghdad. If you look closely into the DoD press releases you’ll find that things aren’t going well. Heavy armor is in the fight for Sadr City, which is pretty much exactly what any commander worth his salt would want to avoid. Repeated use of gunships support, the careful silence about casualties; this is not the “successful surge” that BushCo. wants sold. Nor are things going well for the Daawa/SIIC government, what with a couple of their ministers in Basra and Kut getting shot and all (but they’ll survive, we’re hopefully told.) Top that with the new wave of Sunni infighting today and it’s official (even if it isn’t):

The civil war is here to stay.

So…when do we do the obvious and get out of the way?