The Civil War That Wasn't.

The Washington Times:

"The top U.S. commander in Iraq yesterday declared an end to a 10-day wave of sectarian violence that killed an estimated 350 civilians, asserting that many reports of violence were “exaggerated.”
***snip***
He also said the number of violent incidents turned out to be lower than press and security forces reported in the immediate aftermath of the bombing of the revered Shi’ite Askariya mosque in Samarra, north of Baghdad. Gen. Casey said that in a reported 30 attacks on mosques, only two were severely damaged. Of eight mosques that were reported damaged, inspections showed only one had damage—a broken window.
***snip***
Despite the sectarian violence, the number of suicide bombers in Iraqi in February stood at 17, about half the total in January. Last summer, there were about 60 per month. Suicide-bomber attacks are the main tactic of al Qaeda in Iraq, the foreign infiltrators whose numbers have declined in the face of tighter border-control measures."

But what about what Iraqi's think?

Arab News : has more. Read the whole thing it is excellent.

Amir Taheri says he was bombarded with invitations on TV news programs for the past two weeks to discuss the impending Iraq civil war. It seems that fizzled out. Taheri says there will be no civil war.

Taheri says one of the reasons that tension has grown in Iraq in the last few week is "...the growing desperation of the terrorist groups that, having failed to sabotage the political process and keep the Arab Sunnis out of the last general election, have decided on what could be their last throw of the dice."

But rest assured: (emphasis mine)

" But the new course Iraq has taken away from despotic rule and toward democracy cannot be reversed. Those who look of civil war had better look elsewhere as the overwhelming majority of the Iraqis remain determined not to walk into the trap laid by the terrorists.
As always the real battle for Iraq is taking place outside that country, especially in the United States and Britain. As long as there are steady hands there this ship will not be blown off course by any storm that the terrorists or others could conjure."

As opposed to what people have commented here, I do not see Iraq as going perfectly. Not at all. Those who think that just because I supported the war means I don't see the mistakes that were made, are wrong. But the people speaking above are not pundits. THEY ARE LIVING THIS WAR. I listen to them. I think you should too.

Update: A pundit's view on the ground. "Dude, Where's My Civil War?"