I don't believe this article for an instant and see it as MSM propaganda. It refers to an anonymous source who implies the war in Iraq is already lost and our only hope to retrieve victory is through "death squads".

In my opinion, the Shiite Party (United Iraqi Alliance coalition) supported by Ayatollah al-Sistani will win the Iraqi elections later this month. Iraqi Shiites will feel it their religious duty to vote for the United Iraqi Alliance. After their election, the Shia Iraqis will control the political process in Iraq with Abdul Aziz al-Hakim as their prime minister. Al Hakim will probably cut a deal with the Kurds granting them semi-autonomy in northern Iraq. So as not to offend the Turks, the Iraqi Kurds will still be part of Iraq. The Sunni Baathists and foreign jihadiis will then find themselves between two grindstones, i.e. the Kurds to the north and the Shias to the south. The Iraqi Sunnis under Saddam murdered hundreds of thousands of Shias and Kurds, so this is going to be major "payback time". I might add, this is why the Sunnis are currently fightling like cornered rats (because that's precisely what they are). By the end of March, any Iraqi Sunni who is not fully cooperating with the al Hakim government will be turned into a greasy spot.

With the hard line Sunnis a fading memory, the United States will then negotiate a withdrawal time table with al Hakim based upon his ability to establish security and manage the Iraqi economy. IMHO, the only uncertain issue is whether al Hakim allows the United States to maintain a military base in the Iraqi desert. Al Hakim will have to balance his security risk of having the United States around pursuing its private agenda versus being rid of the United States but having to worry about Syrian and Iranian intrigue. Al Hakim would prefer to see the United States gone immediately. However, he'll probably be forced to keep the US around until his own military capability is strong enough to deal with the Iranians and Syrians (end of Bush's term?).

Gary