The differences seem much more signficant than the similarities. At the moment we're too close to the events to really see what's happening. Heard a discussion on NPR this afternoon. It seems that Sunnis and Shiites are not joining forces after all; the uprising isn't really that wide-spread either. It seems that the Shiite cleric who's caused much of this trouble is viewed very skeptically by most Iraqis who see him as dictatorial and dangerous, more like Saddam than they're comfortable with. It seems that more moderate Iraqis think that the uprising is more likely to force the US to stay in Iraq longer than force us to leave sooner. It's not a good situtation and it's probably that there are no good solutions, but it's also not the beginning of a general civil war or the quagmire people some people have been expecting.

In fact, this suggests the whole thing could be over shortly without having most of the dire consequences doomsayers are predicting.