Ah hell, who knows, maybe all this 9/11 talk has just got me chasing Bin Laden ghosts.

I think so, Ali. While of course it's true that the CIA was funding mujahideen in Afghanistan to fight the Soviets, somehow I don't see them saying, "Hey, here's a piece by Richard Perle you guys might be interested in."

Also, it was the Zarqawist wing of Al Qaeda that gave us the sectarian warfare that threatens to divide Iraq into three separate countries. The U.S., meanwhile, is expending perhaps too much of its blood and treasure to see that Iraq stays united. Binny was only prophetic if the "plan" to which he referred was his own.

Several neo-conservatives tried to interest Binyamin Netanyahu, then (God preserve us) Prime Ministter of Israel, in the Iraq plan in 1997. This made headlines around here. To his credit - and trust me, his credit with me was never high - Betanyahu rejected it. But the plan was public before 1999.

As to Saudi Arabia, who knows?

http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2006/09/21/8-re-drawing-the-map-of-the-...

And the US is clearly committed to keeping Iraq intact. Isn't that why we are still over there? And anyways, accusing a foreign enemy of trying to divide and conquer would hardly take a crystal ball.

Me thinks you need not worry if the fear-mongering of the right has affected you. You need to worry more about why you give Osama far more credit than he deserves.

Do you happen to know of a map that has the Middle East before it was split up after the War? Check out what would be the most beneficial redrawing of boundaries .

"And the US is clearly committed to keeping Iraq intact."

Clearly! You should listen to these guys, Ali. They know what's what. Purge those wacky thoughts from your mind. The US has nothing but good intentions now, dontcha know?

Mark G, you're quite dim. Even if you oppose the war and loathe Bush - as I do - how do you equate keeping Iraq together as a single country with "good intentions"? The boundaries drawn by Gertrude Bell (ever hear of her?) that created the modern state of Iraq were anything but noble in intention, and no one following the news can maintain that the US is in favor of a tri-national split. For one thing, wouldn't that hurt our prospects for oil contracts and establishing permanent military bases in the Middle East?

Given the fact that we know that AEI and Project for New American Century had plans for Iraq in the late 90's, it makes one wonder how Bin Laden was simultaneously aware of them. Is it really just a guess?

No, it's a simple conspiracy-spinning by Bin Laden of what was the de facto situation on the ground in Iraq in 1999, ie. that there were no-fly zones established to protect the Kurds in the north and Shia in the south, leading to the informal partition of the country. Bin Laden was claiming that the partition was preconceived, rather than being a response to the genocidal actions of his regime. And so, it seems, are you :(

"how do you equate keeping Iraq together as a single country with "good intentions"?"

I don't. I was being sarcastic, referencing credulous absurdities uttered by Lerner and Weiss.

"no one following the news can maintain that the US is in favor of a tri-national split"

Really? I'm not convinced. Which news do you follow?

All Lerner said was that the US is committed to keeping Iraq together, which is self-evident, regardless of what Lerner thinks drives that commitment. You were the one to impute "good intentions" to this endeavor.

Clearly you think the U.S. wants to see Iraq break up into three countries. What's your evidence for this?