and they aren't. Period.

With the downfall of Saddam many Iraqis had hoped for peace and representation of their interest. Is this what they got after his ousting? No. What do you think frustrated people do? You have to factor in that coalition forces are foreign poewrs on their home soil. Will they accept bullying by foreigners who claim to be helping? Do they deserve it? Is it representative of the stated purposes and intents of the coalition mission in Iraq?

I think the insurgents are better off dead. And if they keep it up eventually they will be.

Demonise the insurgents as you will, but I think it si entirely within the realm of possibility that iron fist will provoke greater fighting and sympathy for the insurgency. It will create/enforce the view of coalition force as "hypocrites and liars" amongst the populace of Iraq.

That's a Western attitude - not a muslim one. To a Sunni, another Iraqi Shiite IS a 'foreign power' and a nasty one at that. Much nastier than any Western force. Same for Kurds.

Iraq is NOT one country or one culture. It's a mess different ones. That was all under the lid when Saddam ruled because if you made a fuss you and your whole family died. That's how he kept the lid on. How would Saddam deal with an uprising like the current one? Flatten the entire city. Mosques and all. Or gas it to prevent having to blow up the mosques.

Wrong about Iraqi culture. Iraq is not Afgahnistan.

Iraquis aren't Westerners. That's the mistake everyone's making here (the Coalition too). They're Arabs and need to be dealt with like Arabs.

The Kurds may want a separate stae. This probably won't happen (most in Iraq are opposed to it, I imagine and Turkey probably won't either). As for the Sunni/Shia issue, youa re thinking like a westerner, now - when it comes to fighting between those groups it is infighting, never a fight for a separate state. Thus, Shia power might be feared for its possible consequences you won't hear calls for separate state.

al - Sadr? He's just another wannabe Ayatollah or Saddam. He figures he can parlay his private army into a position of power and launch a coup when the US is gone. Saddam would have crushed him like a bug and, in this case, he'd be right. We should too.

Wannabe Ayotallah? Perhaps. But like Saddam? Not possible. He claims to have 10, 000 fighters in his "Mehdi Army", observers/experts/the coalition estimate less - perhaps as low as 3, 000. He couldn't hold power with a force like that. You are buying into coalition rhetoric trying to demonise Sadr and equate him with Saddam. He is a radical, certainly, but there is nothing to suggest his views are like that of Saddam.