Why Col. Muhammed Wasif Taha matters

This morning's newspaper had the report that Col. Muhammed Wasif Taha, a well regarded military officer, had failed to win agreement from the Iraqi government to become the commander of a brigade responsible for some of the most sensitive security situations in Baghdad. The colonel is Sunni. The government is Shiite.

Colonel Taha is the choice of the Americans. From this, we can assume that his Baathist record is mild and his actions since the fall of Saddam impeccable. If this man cannot continue in his chosen profession because he is Sunni, then the message cannot possibly be lost on his coreligionists that there is no future for them in an Iraq governed democratically under the constitution that has been adopted. Their peaceful options are limited to deciding what to do with their time as they rot in futile impotence in the middle of a million acres of stinking desert. They will more likely opt for continued violence.

This analysis should not be mistaken for sympathy. The Sunnis are getting nothing worse, and generally much better, than the deal they parcelled out to the Shiites and Kurds when they held the whip hand. They have no moral basis for expecting anything better.

But this is an issue of realpolitik and morality has nothing to do with it. The United States has gotten itself into a situation where civil war is inevitable and nothing we can do (Juan Cole respectfully to the contrary notwithstanding) will prevent it or even materially retard it. Let's get out.