Moment of truth for Iraq

Alas, the answer to this question is all too clear at this point.

The attack on the Golden Mosque was aimed at Iraq. Its purpose was to set off a civil war between Sunni and Shi'ite. That the Sunnis cannot win, of course, is not the point. The point is that it would plunge Iraq into bloody chaos, from which it would be likely to eventually emerge as once again a totalitarian state- and quite possibly just the sort of theocracy al Quaeda would like.

But there is another possibility. Having been driven to the precipice by the attack on the Golden Mosque, perhaps the quarrelling factions in Iraq may be frightened by that very prospect into a larger degree of cooperation. National Review Online points out that there have, indeed, been indications that such a thing is happening.

Two things are certain. First, civil war benefits nobody but al Quaeda. And secondly, we're entering into a crucial phrase of the struggle. How this crisis is weathered may well tell us which way Iraq is going to go.