Iraq elections - steering Iraq towards civil war?

A member of the Iraqi police special forces rides on the back of a vehicle past an election banner featuring, Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, in Baghdad, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2005. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Counterpunch: The Bush Administration is intentionally steering Iraq towards civil war. The elections are merely the catalyst for igniting, what could be, a massive social upheaval. This explains the bizarre insistence on voting when security is nearly nonexistent and where a mere 7% of the people can even identify the candidates. (This figure gleaned from Allawi's Baghdad newspaper, Al-Sabah) Rumsfeld is using the elections as a springboard for aggravating tensions between Sunnis and Shiites and for diverting attention away from the troops. It's a foolhardy move that only magnifies the desperation of the present situation. The Pentagon brass expected a "cakewalk" and, instead, they've found themselves mired in a guerilla war. Link