Will the current crisis in Iraq cause the "nation" to pull together or fly apart? To the Point had a very good discussion on this issue today. Those of you with podcast inclinations should check it out.
Iraq and the Prospect of All-Out Civil War
Monday, February 27, 2006
After last week saw the worst sectarian violence since the US invasion, talks on forming a unity government in Iraq broke down. Now, a daytime curfew in Iraq has been lifted and the streets of Baghdad and other cities are quiet by current standards, although powerful tensions remain. Iraqi security forces are on high alert, but have been infiltrated by Shiite militias. Sunnis want militias of their own. Are political leaders--or religious clerics--really in charge? Will conflicts that date to the 8th century lead to a civil war? We look at the roots of sectarian hostilities and the potential for violence spreading throughout the Middle East.
Guests:
EDWARD WONG
Staff writer for the New York Times in Baghdad
JEFF BEALS
Political advisor to the US Embassy in Iraq, he is involved in the ongoing negotiations between the US and Iraqi political and religious leaders
JUAN COLE
Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at the University of Michigan and publisher of JuanCole.com, a Web log on the Middle East, history, Islam and religion
MANSOUR FARHANG
Professor of Political Science at Bennington College in Vermont; Iran's first ambassador to the United Nations (1979-1980)
RAMI KHOURI
Editor-at-Large of the Daily Star, a Beirut-based English-language newspaper that is distributed throughout the Arab world
