Reply #172: PNAC's goal was to reconfigure the Middle East -- not to "take over" Iraq.

[The Stranger]

To divide Iraq or render it no longer a viable nation -- that was exactly what PNAC intends to do. As far as wiping out Iraqis -- and Ba'athists in particular -- that also fits with a reconfigured, better managed and controlled Middle East.

That there is no exit strategy is part of the plan. They must, however, appear to look as if there is some exit strategy. Or they sought to appear that way until recently.