Each of those Arab countries has flaws and big ones, at that. But they are not Iran or Syria, or an Iraq conquered by either the Sunni Ba’ath or the Sunni Al Qaeda or an unstable combination of both [bold mine-DL]. ~Marty Peretz

I know there are all sorts of doom-laden scenarios for what might happen after a withdrawl from Iraq.  These are usually serious scenarios of increased sectarian warfare, or an Iranian invasion, or Kurdish separatism provoking a Turkish attack and so on.  In none of these scenarios is anyone so out of it as to suggest that the Ba’ath is going to “conquer” Iraq or that Al Qaeda will “conquer” it, either.  Absolutely nobody (except Marty Peretz) is suggesting that the two of them will be the winners of whatever bloodletting follows an American departure.  Where does stuff like this even come from?