MB Civic

By Sebastian Mallaby | Monday, November 6, 3006 | The Washington Post

Not your standard Iraq War article, this one analyzes the differences between a conventional ‘interstate’ war and a civil war, like the one unfolding in Iraq. Among the key points: Civil wars since 1945 last longer (an average of 10 years); 75% of them end when one side crushes the other, but currently, even if the US assisted either the Shiites or the Sunnis to defeat the other side, neither of them would make palatable allies; and finally, civil wars that end with a negotiated peace usually do so only after the sides have fought each other to exhaustion and stalemate. Super stuff, highly readable, and refreshingly unslanted…BS

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/05/AR2006110500773.html