Alhtough the recent spate of bombings in Iraq seem designed to whip up sectarianism, the positive spin is that, so far, we haven't seen major retaliation. WSJ:
After Monday's attacks, Iraqi and U.S. officials reiterated praise for Iraq's Shiites, who have shown restraint in the face of the attacks -- unlike in earlier stages of the war, when sectarian attacks by Sunni insurgents triggered widespread, violent reprisals by Shiite militias and plunged the country into near-civil war for two years.
"These attacks have failed to move the Iraqi people to ethno-sectarian violence," a spokesman for the U.S. military in Baghdad said. "Instead, the Iraqi people have been galvanized against violence. They remember the dark days of 2006-2007 and refuse to be taken back to that time."
Here's hoping.
--Michael Crowley