*sigh* It is depressing. One of the bad things that could happen is the instability in Iraq will embolden the terrorists further. The instability in the region creates a vaccum of power, with the legitimacy of the government coming into question. Iran eventually comes in and fills the void, making what is literally a Super Iran.
They start bullying their neighbors, much as Saddam did with Kuwait. They build an even more Super Iran. All the while, they continue building nuclear weapons (and I have absolutely no doubt that’s what they’re doing, what with all this pussyfooting with the UN).
Eventually, they go after an ally. Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc (though I suppose Iraq right now is an ally in bloom). We step up our activity in the region even more. Time passes and it all breaks down into nuclear conflict with Iran’s newly built arsenal.
Of course, this is mostly out or my arse.. Take it with a grain of salt. The Iran thing is something that not only we take seriously, but also the world. Nevertheless, what’s going on over there is really frightening–not only for the ones we all care about but for the rest of the planet, too :-\
Our military forces were told specifically not to touch mosques. Period. They’re sacred. And they did that. Of course, many of us over here would get pretty uberly miffed if they started bombing our churches. It shows exactly what these terrorists are all about that they show their own disrespect in gutting out a shrine of Allah.