The map is stolen from a Mother Jones background article, "Iraq 101", about who the players are and what this whole thing is about. It's a good read and worth clinking on the map to get there.
This gives a little better picture of who the players are and where they get their support.
The vast majority of American casualties have been caused by Sunni insurgents. Where do the Sunnis come from and who supports the Sunnis?
Anbar Provence is the area west of Baghdad. It's sort of a triangle with Baghdad at one point and most of the Syrian border being one of its sides. Al Qaeda hangs out in Anbar provence. They're primarily Sunni Moslims.
Only a small fraction of American casualties can be attributed to Shiite militias. Who supports the Shiites?
The Kurds are really our only allies in the area. Their area is the only area where NO, ZERO, Zip NONE! NO Americans have died in this fray. Why do you suppose Turkey (our allies) and the Iran (supposedly our enemy now that we can't figure out what to do with our enemies in Iraq) don't want to see Iraq partitioned into three autonomous regions (Sunnistan, Shiitestan and Kurdestan presumably)?
Incidentally, this map serves to underscore the point that Iraq is a made-up nation. the British (rent see the movie/DVD "Lawrence of Arabia" for the back story) drew some arbitrary colonial lines in the sand and created Iraq without regard to the indigenous people or their feelings about each other.
If all the above is true, does it make a lot of sense to:
- Not talk to the Iranians?
- Try to start a war with them?
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