NEWS.com.au | CIA sounds alarm on civil war risk (January 23, 2004): "CIA officers in Iraq are warning that the country may be on a path to civil war.
Yesterday's warning starkly contradicts the upbeat assessment given by President George W. Bush in his State of the Union address earlier this week.
The CIA officers' bleak assessment was delivered verbally to Washington, said officials.
The warning echoed growing fears that Iraq's Shiite majority, which has until now grudgingly accepted the US occupation, could turn to violence if its demands for direct elections are spurned.
Meanwhile, Iraq's Kurdish minority is pressing its demand for autonomy and shares of oil revenue. 'Both the Shiites and the Kurds think that now's their time,' said one intelligence officer."
Yesterday's warning starkly contradicts the upbeat assessment given by President George W. Bush in his State of the Union address earlier this week.
The CIA officers' bleak assessment was delivered verbally to Washington, said officials.
The warning echoed growing fears that Iraq's Shiite majority, which has until now grudgingly accepted the US occupation, could turn to violence if its demands for direct elections are spurned.
Meanwhile, Iraq's Kurdish minority is pressing its demand for autonomy and shares of oil revenue. 'Both the Shiites and the Kurds think that now's their time,' said one intelligence officer."
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