Sisyphus In Iraq

On Monday, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay "Sisyphus" Khalilzad (he a long-standing member in the neocon movement) began once again to push upon the Iraqis the notion of a non-sectarian government.

Boy, it sure didn't take long for that boulder to come crashing back down.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Al Jaafari told him to butt out, and then on Wednesday, in what might be the final blow to the hopes of non-sectarianism, the Golden Dome of the 1,200 year old Askariya Mosque in Samarra was turned to rubble.

While some bright folks have expressed optimism that the bombing could cause a backlash uniting Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds against Zarqawi's Al Qaeda in Iraq, I am not one of them.

The Shiite response has been fierce and not limited. Between 29 and 75 Sunni mosques have been destroyed, at least 3 Sunni clerics have been killed and, in Basra, 11 Sunni prisoners were pulled from their cells and executed.

This massive and fierce sectarian divide was so predictable - well, that is, if anybody had bothered to listen to the liberals protesting this war before it happened. Before the war, our doubts about the evidence of WMD and the viability of nation building in Iraq were virtually ignored by the traditional meeting.

The traditional media cannot stomach admitting that we liberals were right and now portrays the pre-war opposition as having been solely driven by hatred of Bush rather than any form of rational contemplation or logical thought.

UPDATE: It appears the Sunni mosques weren't "destroyed" but were attacked with many being taken over by Shiites.