W. Patrick Lang, former head of Middle East Affairs and Counterterrorism at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, tells cfr.org the attack on the Askariya Shrine will not scuttle Iraq's political process or impede the insurgency. In this interview, he discusses the looming threat of a general civil war, the role of Shiite militias in stoking violence, and what this all means for U.S. forces in Iraq.
