Iraqis Warn Country Close to Civil War

[Sliverofhope]

by Firas Al-Atraqchi
December 12, 2003

Iraqi intellectuals living both inside Iraq and as members of the expatriate community in Europe and North America are warning that Iraq is perilously close to a civil war in light of recent events and decrees issued by both the US Civilian Provisional Authority (CPA) and the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC).

---snip---

Almost all Iraqis interviewed for this article expressed a mixture of dismay, disgust and anger at the US mishandling of Iraqi affairs. They claim that they are glad that the Baathist regime has been dislodged but wonder why Iraqi civil society is marginalized in the reconstruction and re-politicization of Iraq. Talk of civil war is now common among Iraqis sipping tea in Baghdad teahouses or those who are professors in Europe and North America.

"I have very bad vibes indeed. Things look ominous, as if a civil war is imminent," said Fadi Wazan, an Iraqi businessman in Boston, Massachusetts.

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/atraqchi5.html

[Sliverofhope]

1. Also of note in the article

448 fatalities, 11,000 wounded or incapacitated (US forces)

[pinto]

2. I've read reports of union busting (by theCPA) and Shi'ite demonstrations

calling for general elections. As I remember from school, when main stream, middle class, moderate segments of a population grow dissatisfied, vocal and determinate, change happens.

If moderate Iraqis, primarily, though not only, Shi'ite, tend towards dissolution of the staus quo, it may very well happen.

[Frances]

3. Who would be fighting who in this civil war?