McG- true [about secular Sunnis], and a lot of those secular Sunnis were very much tied into the Baath party. But the sheiks and imams who promote the insurgency aren't Baathists and aren't secular. That's why I differentiated between the factions in my original post. Good to have that expanded upon.

As to the Soviet Union and WWII, Harry Pollett (sp?) was removed as secretary of the British Communist Party in '39 for supporting the British Government in its war on Hitler. Anyone who doesn't think that order didn't come from Moscow is naive. When Hitler double crossed Stalin, Pollett was reinstated. Also American airmen who crashed in the SU were interned under very bad conditions. Not what I'd expect from an ally. Of course we benefitted from the eastern front against Hitler in a big way, but that was due to the sacrifices of the Russian people more than to the Communist leadership. Lots of Americans have family ties to the republics of the former SU. (I know I do.) And no doubt there are a few in Britain with the same ties.

All on Kissinger:

I didn't say he didn't do the wrong thing morally in Viet Nam, all I said was he wasn't the first or only one to screw up royally there. Agreement and recognition of ability aren't the same thing. I don't think highly personally of Deng Tsio Ping, but I recognize his ability. I think that Kissinger will have a lot more influence on the way American involvement in Iraq is handled from now on than any of us will.