"They now visualise a split nation after a bloody civil war...just like Iraq."

Whatever happens in Tunisia; Egypt; Yemen; Syria; Bahrain and Libya will happen. It will happen because for the first time in any of those countries existences the "people" will decide and the "people can chose whatever they want.

Militant fundamentalist Islam is an evil and a force that will have to be confronted exactly as fascism was and exactly as communism was in their day. If what the people of the arab nations mentioned elect to chose extreme fundamentalist regimes to rule then that is no problem it merely serves to better define the enemy and steps can be taken counter their influence.

So what if Libya is split? By the way could you tell me when Iraq had its "civil war" and when it split? As far as I am aware Iraq still exists as a united country under a democratically elected government - more than can be said for - Tunisia; Egypt; Yemen; Syria; Bahrain or Libya.