Word: civilizations
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That's a familiar situation for Khalilzad these days. As Iraq's political parties squabble over the nature and composition of a new government, sectarian violence has pushed the country closer than ever to full-bore civil war. U.S. commanders believe that Sunni-Shi'ite violence is surpassing jihadi terrorism as the biggest threat to the country's long-term stability. And yet the prospect of a deeper, more vicious war has so far failed to prod the country's leaders into setting aside their rivalries and forming a broadly representative government, which may be the U.S.'s best hope...
...sacred Shi'ite shrine in Samarra, which left hundreds dead. "I see what happened in the immediate aftermath of Samarra as a strategic warning to Iraqi society and the Iraqi leadership," Khalilzad says. "If they didn't have a feeling that there was a concerted effort at provoking civil war by the enemies of Iraq, they cannot have any doubts in the aftermath of Samarra...
There's little doubt that the bombing has galvanized Khalilzad's diplomatic efforts, giving him in his meetings with Iraqi leaders an urgent, compelling talking point: the prospect of civil war. But a day spent with the ambassador as he shuttles across Baghdad reveals just how hard it will be for him to forge compromise. At his meeting with al-Hakim, the SCIRI leader's aides nod when Khalilzad says the political deadlock is creating a vacuum that encourages sectarian impulses. But al-Hakim wants to talk instead about the discovery last week of a bus containing the corpses...
...likely to end the controversy anytime soon. That's because even as the bill would impose some tough new restrictions on Bush's program, it would also legalize it. All of which means it will satisfy neither a White House that wants unlimited wartime power nor civil libertarians who want to prevent what they see as unwarranted electronic searches prohibited by the Constitution...
...most dangerous threats, any plot has to be discovered while it is still being hatched overseas. If plotters get inside the country as they did before 9/11, the powerful eavesdropping abilities of the National Security Agency cannot be brought to bear. In effect, the new bill manages to anger civil libertarians without fully addressing the security problem...