Rumsfeld does not understand what a civil war is!

The White House continues to see the difficulty in Iraq through those damn rose colored glasses that they refuse to dispense to the rest of us. Here is what Rumsfeld has to say on the subject of civil war.

"The plan is to prevent a civil war, and to the extent one were to occur, to have the . . . Iraqi security forces deal with it to the extent they're able to," Rumsfeld told the Senate Appropriations Committee when pressed to explain how the United States intended to respond should Iraq descend wholesale into internecine strife.

internecine
adj 1: (of conflict) within a group or organization; "an internecine feud among proxy holders" 2: characterized by bloodshed and carnage for both sides; "internecine war"

I had to look that word up. I hate it when I don't know a word.

"Characterized by bloodshed and carnage on both sides". Now what part of that definition makes it sound like there will still be a sense of order in Iraq? Does it sound like the government and their security forces will still be functionally capable of keeping the peace?

Here let me answer my own question. NO! When Iraq dissolves into civil war it will be the Sunni's against the Shiites and whether the combatants have uniforms or not will not mean a damn thing! The Iraqi forces will splinter and form their own fighting units and become just as much of a danger to the US forces as the other side. It will be left to American forces to quell the violence and that will result in more US casualties then we have seen thus far in this conflict.

Ultimately we will be forced out of the country. But that will not be enough to stop the violence. It will continue until somebody rises from the rubble to unite enough of the combatants to suppress the opposition. My guess is they will receive support from Iran.

Now why do I think this and Rumsfeld doesn't? Because I have paid attention to the history of the region and have a basic understanding of how a civil war works. And I know that Rumsfeld is an idiot!

Once again I hope I am wrong. But I doubt it.