[Chewbacca]

Food for thought:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/28/opinio...ife/index.html
Excerpt:

Only Iran can save Iraq By Mohammed Ayoob, Special to CNN updated 11:14 AM EST, Wed December 28, 2011 Editor's note: Mohammed Ayoob is University Distinguished Professor of international relations at Michigan State University and adjunct scholar at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. (CNN) -- Iraq is on the edge of the precipice as a consequence of the standoff between Shia Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, with the former accusing the latter of engaging in terrorism and the latter accusing the former of dictatorial ambitions. This crisis involves all three major sectarian and ethnic groups in Iraq, with al-Hashimi taking refuge in the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq as a guest of Iraq's Kurdish President Jalal Talabani. What happens over the next couple of weeks will determine whether Iraq will continue to exist as a unified state or begin to irretrievably unravel in sectarian strife. Two realities stand out in the midst of all the noise and fury currently surrounding the debate in and over Iraq.