CIA warns of civil war in Iraq

[Woodstock]

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/7765415.htm

CIA officers in Iraq are warning that the country may be on a path to civil war, current and former U.S. officials said Wednesday, starkly contradicting the upbeat assessment that President Bush gave in his State of the Union address...

The warning echoed growing fears that Iraq's Shiite majority, which has until now grudgingly accepted the U.S. occupation, could turn to violence if its demands for direct elections are spurned. Meanwhile, Iraq's Kurdish minority is pressing its demand for autonomy and shares of oil revenue.

"Both the Shiites and the Kurds think that now's their time," said one intelligence officer. "They think that if they don't get what they want now, they'll probably never get it. Both of them feel they've been betrayed by the United States before."...

Another senior official said the concerns over a possible civil war weren't confined to the CIA but are "broadly held within the government," including by regional experts at the State Department and National Security Council...

[RapidCreek]

1. Well at least the world is a safer place now!

NOT.

RC

[LiberalVoice]

2. and while they're killing eachother * will rant about what a great job...

...he did freeing an enslaved populus.

[caledesi]

3. Mission UNaccomplished. nt

[Karenina]

4. Buglers shipping out.

Please fasten seatbelts.

[Ilsa]

5. No doubt, David Kay will announce

at a future date that the CIA did not warn the Administration that civil war could erupt in Iraq. We'll have to save this one in The Memory Hole

[KG]

6. well, duh.

anyone that gave any serious thought to the outcome of this clusterfuck invasion and occupation could have forseen this.

[GOPisEvil]

7. You mean...this is sorta like we left Afghanistan (the first time 'round)

Hmmm...seems to be a common thread with us...invade, and foment unrest upon departure.

[Woodstock]

9. Invade, make money, forment unrest

You missed a step :)

[qb]

8. Of course, Bush & Co. will ignore the warning

and then blame intelligence failures when civil war breaks out.