[Jamo]

Josh...yup, most of us understand what you're saying about the media. We're on the other side of it, and we are fed the daily pics of the messy side of what you're living through, and very little of anything else. Unfortunately, that ain't gonna change. Family members living through what you have echo your statements.

Hate to say it, but civil war is inevitable when a central authority that holds together diverse groups is gone. Sadaam was that central authority, but he had to go. We are it now. When we leave, there will be a struggle. How bad it is depends on what political structure is in place. Greater India after the Raj, Yugoslavia after Tito, various African nations after Britain, Germany and Belgium and others left...all examples, but each different. Much of what we're facing now are the remains of the Ottoman Empire which held things in check for several centuries. Almost seems that civil wars are a necessary part of determining whether a geo-political region will constitute a nation or group of nations. Hopefully, the cultural groups fighting each other will have in common the desire to stamp out groups who care nothing for moving civilization forward, but no one knows.