I can't even think of a funny title for this one...

Well our fears have been realized. Iraq is now on the brink of a civil war, and the US is caught in the middle of it. In the last couple of days since the bombing of the most sacred Shiite mosque in the region, there has been escalating violence between the two major religious factions: the Shiites and the Sunnis, which has taken the lives of over 100 Iraqis and 7 American troops. Regardless of American and Islamic calls for peace the violence is becoming more intense as death squads roam the region dressed as Iraqi police, stopping cars, and executing people on the streets in broad daylight.
Fueled by Islamic fundamentalists and Al-Qaeda, civil war would put the US is an unfightable role. When is a rout not a rout? When there is no way to win, and should civil war occur everyone will be a loser.

Now while I don't hope for a civil war (and every American, Republican or Democrat should hope for a peaceful resolution to this situation), hope seems to be all we have left. I do think we need to go back to our drawing board to work up new foreign policy. Historically it's been our way to destabilize countries unfriendly to the US through embargos, assassination, and war to create a vacuum and then hope that whatever fills that vacuum will be friendlier to America. However what we've seen in the last three years is a complete annihilation of that system. In Iraq barely anyone is friendly to the US and those that do like us, hate the next Iraqi. Whatever our next target will be, (and believe me, this is only the beginning), we have to; a) get rid of Bush and his cronies and replace them with competent leadership, and b) come up with a new game plan. We've often heard that new problems require new solutions, but unfortunately we're still playing the same game that we've used since the Spanish-American war. We can no longer afford to continue on the same path we've come across, the costs, both in American life and moral fiber is much much to great.

As for Iraq? I shake my head right now. About a year ago I was all about pulling out. But now, faced with a situation as we had in Somalia we may be forced to leave. If I did have to come up with a solution then I would go with my original plan; we have to get our allies in NATO involved in this conflict and form a coalition similar to what Clinton accomplished in Bosnia, and maybe if we ask nicely we can get Wesley Clark to take charge. Iraq has now developed into a peacekeeping mission and there is no way we can complete that objective on our own. Today US troops began a curfew, but without troops, without proper tools, a curfew will be impossible to enforce. I'm a fan of comic books and I remember that in trouble even Captain America would call for help. Well the bomb is seconds away from exploding, and Doc Doom and the Red Skull are standing between us and it. Either we call for the rest of the Avengers, or we are toast.

Check out the whole tragic story here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11491483/