Rolling Stone magazine has produced a must read for anyone interested in the ongoing geopolitical disaster and humanitarian catastrophe that is Iraq. A pannel of experts comment on the best, worst, and most likely scenarios

“The big danger is what I call the August 1914 Syndrome. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo — what would have been in the scale of history a minor event — set in motion activities that turned out to be beyond the ability of the Western powers to control. And they ended up in one of the most brutal wars in man’s history by accident…

A Shia Saddam — without nearly as much brutality, but still a strongman — is actually one of the best hopes…

I can’t help but think we’ve signed Jordan’s death warrant….

You’re going to see borders changing, governments falling. Lebanon is already on the precipice…

There isn’t any upper limit to how many people could get killed. Depending on how long the war lasts — a million casualties?

Once the Israelis get involved, then everybody piles on. And you’ve got nuclear events going off in the Middle East. That would be about as bad as it could get….

This is a dark chapter in our history. Whatever else happens, our country’s international standing has been frittered away by people who don’t have the foggiest understanding of how the hell the world works. America has been conducting an experiment for the past six years, trying to validate the proposition that it really doesn’t make any difference who you elect president. Now we know the result of that experiment [laughs]. If a guy is stupid, it makes a big difference.”

The lid is well and truely off – its just that no one knows for sure what’s in the box

Update: March on the Pentagon.org are organising a major protest at, err, the Pentagon this Saturday, 17th March. Their video can be viewed here.