Iraq is for all

Some say that a civil war is already taking place in Iraq, other say that the country is on the verge of a civil war, and others still refuse to accept reality, maintaining that the civil war is just a claim invented by the media.

The bulk of expert opinion agrees that U.S. war has managed to widen the gap between Iraq Sunnis and Shias, and sow enmity between the country's main ethnic groups on the basis of interests and shares in Iraq's wealth, and the result is what we're witnessing on a daily basis in the war-torn country.

The political vacuum created by the Bush administration's lack of a back-up plan for that outcome prompted many academics, think-tanks, political experts and analysts to call on Iraqi leaders and the Occupation authority to work with Iraq's neighbors, whom the U.S. refuses to negotiate with, to contain Iraq's civil war, that will not only destabilize Iraq and bring unspoken number of deaths and destruction, but will also deal a major blow to peace in the region.

The age of "living gods" is over and the era of democracy has begun, stated an editorial on Iraq' Azzaman, calling on Iraqis to purify their hearts and intentions, for it's the only way for their salvation from the current quagmire.

"Let our slogan be, "Iraq is for All," the editorial said.

Civil war is a more likely outcome than democracy in Iraq. That became very evident with the first days of the war, and became increasingly clear as the war continued a year after the other, with Iraq's politicians becoming more and more driven by sectarian interest, abusing all avenues for dialogue and thus losing every credibility they have, instead of caring and planning for the real Iraqi nationalism.

The situation in Iraq and politicians' greed is making it impossible for all sides to sit together and try to come up with a solution for the bleak future awaiting the divided nation of Iraq.

What should be the response of Iraqi politicians?

They need to bring all parties together, try to end the current bloodbath that's threatening what's left of the Iraqi population, instead of busying themselves with achieving personal goals to an extent that has made them totally incapable of addressing the challenges facing their once united nation.

If Iraqi leaders can't join forces to end sectarian violence in Iraq  and the shedding of blood that runs like rivers through the streets and colors the asphalt and walls of its cities, nobody else will, not Iraq's neighbors, and not the occupiers.

Members of the Iraqi Parliament should impose severe punishment against anyone, any group, regardless of their sect or position, who're carrying out attacks against civilians and terrorizing the nation.

What's taking place in Iraq these days is a series of retaliatory attacks and ethnic cleansing that are taking place before the eyes of Iraqi politicians and the international Community who keep boasting about the need to contain the deteriorating situation in the war-torn country yet haven't shown true willingness or readiness to do so.

Barbaric acts of violence are actually increasing in Iraq day after day.

Iraq is rapidly slipping into the mud of terrorism and bloody civil war.

In Iraq's civil war, the most prominent faction is the Iraqi "government" itself. We shouldn't actually call it a government, because there is no state.

The puppet Iraqi government, led by Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki has more money and more troops than any side in this civil war taking place in Iraq. It also has the U.S. occupation which has installed it and continues to support it while pressuring it at the same time to end the daily violence in Iraq that piles the pressure on the American President at home.

A civil war in Iraq, will, if it hasn't already taken place, have Sunni vs. Shia aspects; as well as many other fault lines, some within the Shia and Sunni communities, some cutting across them, leading to a bloody phase in the history of Iraq and the entire Arab and Muslim world, unless Iraqi politicians join the country's neighbors to end what the occupation started and fueled throughout the war's four years.