Besides the fact that modern Iraq is a fairly artificial state born out of the British mandate and collecting disparate groups together, there is already a bit of balkanization going on in the country - in the North. If not for the protests of Turkey, I think the North would be wholly autonomous.

For Snow to say that they all see themselves as one people, as Mesopotamian descendants together, really reveals a lack of appreciation for the diversity of the country. And the headlines are just the most recent and disturbing evidence of these fault-lines in the country. I bet the Marsh Arabs and the Kurds haven't been feeling a lot of that Mesopotamian brotherhood in their recent history.

Mesopotamia? Why not just say they are rebuilding Babylon, so that it can fall again, or some such piece of shit the American Christian Extremists are basing American Foriegn Policy on?

Gabriel is on the mark.
Another factor is, apparently, that Big Oil and their political backers are interested in keeping the price of oil high. In order to do that, Iraq (2nd largest reserves) needs to pump little oil. Solution? "Oil-for-food program" below OPEC quotas!
Oh wait, Saddam was messing with oil markets by alternately pumping and not pumping... oh well, INVADE!
Occupation + Insurgents = no oil pumped, ergo, High Oil Prices! Yay! Happy Exxon/BP/Shell/Unocal/etc! Happy happy Saudi Arabia! Their "black sheep" Osama really did good with this one. Keep bombing those pipelines kids!

All the American rich already have their money offshore... so if/when our economy collapses, they'll be fine with their hired Wackenhut guards. The rest of us will have to go Havana-style and start farming the cities.

If there is any strong sense of regional identity, it's the solidarity that exists between Iranian and Iraqi Shiites. Moreover this solidarity goes back centuries. Persian ambitions in the Shia South were always a problem for Ottoman rule over Iraq, aligned as it was with the Sunnis.
The Iraqis that I know are more likely to cite the Abassid Caliphate as the high point of Iraqi civilization than to mention ancient mesopotamia. I'm guessing that's to complicated for an admin sound bite.

treacle, you have said nothing less than the truth behind that war.

Why were you up so early?

Gee whillikers, Treacle! If the Iraq war was all about maintaining high oil prices, maybe I'll change my mind and start supporting it instead. Because what you left out is, high oil prices are good for America. The higher the better; I'm rooting hard for $4 and then $5, even $6 gas. It is only when gas is expensive that people start to pay attention to the true cost, which is much higher. Cheap subsidized gas is disastrous for the nation on so many levels.

Expensive oil means expensive food, too, since agriculture uses about as much petroleum as cars do (fertilizer, pesticides). The devastation caused by petro-agriculture and cheap food is even worse than that of gas vehicles.

Don't forget Israel's contribution to this war. An oil pipeline will supply Iraq oil to a now stable Israel. We'll have a democratic friend in the region who will help us stabilize oil production. Once Israel neutralizes Iran, we'll control Iranian oil to prevent China from taking it. Once the dust settles in Lebanon, Israel will be stronger than ever and that benefits America.

Fnarf-- High oil prices don't imply the removal of fuel subsidies. And any way, since we don't have an effective transit system, high pump prices will push more people to the edge of homelessness. Yay!

Josh-- "democratic friend in the region"? You mean Iraq? Dude, you must be smoking some reeeally strong stuff. They will never be "democratic", and less so our "friend". The US's friend is Saudi Arabia. Oh, and Israel. And "neutralize" Iran, such that "we" will control their oil? What planet are you living on? Bloody Empire World?

Israel won the recent war with Lebanon and killed thousands of terrorists. Israel will occupy southern Lebanon as a base to take out Syria and Iran. The key here is Iran's vast oil fields that could fuel China's growth for years. If America and Israel control Iran's oil, we control China's growth. That would be a good thing.

You're even dumber than Josh, Treacle, if you're responding to him.

I didn't say high prices would stop fuel subsidies. I don't give a shit about fuel subsidies. I care about using less oil, which can only be accomplished by making it more expensive, hopefully MUCH more expensive.

As for $5 gas pushing people into homelessness, give me a friggin' break. Homelessness has a lot more to do with the cost of HOUSING, not (practically free) gasoline.