Do factions in Iraq want to shape a nation?

Re “Shiites Try to Drive Wedge Between Jafari Opponents,” April 13

The British cobbled together three diverse Ottoman territories in the 1920s to form Iraq. It was not a nation then and is not a nation now. The political turmoil in Baghdad is really over whether the ethnic and religious factions want to become a nation. Everything else in Iraq will flow from that decision.

CARLTON S. MARTZ

Redlands

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Re “A path to success in Iraq,” Opinion, April 11

Zalmay Khalizad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, and Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the senior military U.S. commander in Iraq, should not write an article for The Times; they should read The Times to find out what is happening in Iraq.

JOHN R. FISCHER

San Gabriel