What is Americas moral responsibility to prevent civil war?
In an ideal scenario, the American withdrawal would be coordinated with the government in Baghdad so that Iraqi forces would be prepared and able to take over from the departing troops and maintain order. But US officials describe the government of Nouri al-Maliki as being dysfunctional and corrupt and doing little to reach out to Sunnis or competing Shia groups. “Improvement in stability did not result from a top-down process of compromise driven by the government,” Dick Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate foreign relations committee, told Congress. There is an argument that announcing a definitive exit would force Maliki to recognise the urgency of reconciliation. Others say that is unlikely and a civil war is virtually inevitable, even if US forces remain in strength. “If the United States were to withdraw from Iraq, and the result was severe war and severe civil strife, the Iraqi government only has itself to blame. It has set the stage for that. It has made the policies of
