endless Republican civil war

James D. Fearon, an expert on civil conflict at Stanford University, said that "by any reasonable definition, Iraq is in the midst of a civil war.

The White House’s steadfast refusal to call this conflict a civil war feels more like denial than delusion. President Bush understands that using the term 'civil war" would force him to concede that the defining act of his presidency had ended in ruin. So, our troops continue being wounded and dying so these Republicans don't have to admit that they goofed and lied us into war. THAT MAY EVEN BE CRIMINAL.

Americans should not continue to send their sons and daughters into the Iraqi maelstrom in order to defend Iraqi factions from one another. What’s more, civil wars rarely have the kind of equitable conclusion that the Bush administration has envisioned in Iraq.

Fearon testified that the 54 such conflicts he studied typically lasted more than 10 years and normally ended with decisive military victory rather than power-sharing agreements. History, he said, indicates that the current administration strategy “is highly unlikely to succeed, whether the U.S. stays in Iraq for six more months or six more years (or more).”