Mack/Misophist. I'm sure you are trying to clarify matters, but I really can't let you get away with some of your stuff. You seem to think it's highly significant that Shiites are the majority in Iran, Sunnis in Iraq. This is just not so. Now, I dont know how they conduct censuses in Iraq, but I am absolutely sure(and so is every iraqi I know) that Shiites are the majority in Iraq, easily. This is going to be the big problem in any kind of "transition to democracy". The realiy of the situation is the Kurds are currently more or less autonomous, and in no way will they submit to any Islamist Shiite government if it gets voted in by a majority. Ditto the Sunnis.
    And your statements that Iraqis are Arabic speaking needs a little qualifying. Arab Iraqis, as you might expect, are Arabic speaking. Kurdish iraqis, by and large, dont speak Arabic, or only a few words. Your statement. like a lot of british and American opinion on Iraq, tends to ignore the Kurds because they dont fit easily into most people's view of the situation.The conventional left-liberal anti-Bush line, and the gung-ho pro-Bush position, have one thing in common: they dont accommodate the Kurds very easily!
   Because the Kurds are largely inexplicable to most people, they tend to get ignored. This, i believe, is a big big mistake.
    (I've never been to Iraq, but I know a lot of Iraqis).