Difference between Afghanistan and Iraq-2

Nobody has really gone into depth that despite all the failures of the U.S. civilian administration, Iraq violence has gone down and it seems to be succeeding (albeit very slowly) to having a successful unified government (although it will take years or maybe decades to come to that). Its three ethnic groups (although I call it two-depending on who you ask), the Sunnis, the Shiites and the Kurds have started to play along (although with suspicions and doubts). What I mean by two groups is that Sunnis and Kurds are technically Sunnis but different ethnicities; they can get along if they focus on their sect and not on their ethnicities. But Shiites are a whole different bunch, they are Arabs but they are viewed by the majority Sunni population as not being Arab or Muslims for that matter (it is based on historical differences-too long and controversial to discuss here).And sometimes they are also accused by the Sunnis as being agents of Iran (which can also be said about the Sunnis as being agents of Saudi Arabia- but that is another controversial and long topic).

But my point here is that if push comes to shove, all the three ethnic and religious groups have a stake in preserving the nation of Iraq in whatever shape or form they want. As of now the majority of the Sunnis (I believe) have come to the conclusion that in a democracy, they are a minority and they will have to live with that (although the assorted terrorists don’t want to do that now). And all the countries surrounding Iraq have also a stake in preserving the territorial integrity of Iraq, no matter what interests or aspirations they have with regards to it.