The discovery of nearly 100 corpses over the past few days, the bombing of the golden dome on the Askariya shrine, and other acts have some saying that Iraq is headed for a civil war.

Iraqi authorities discovered at least 87 corpses — men shot to death execution-style — as Iraq edged closer to open civil warfare. Twenty-nine of the bodies, dressed only in underwear, were dug out of a single grave Tuesday in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad.

In Baqouba Wednesday, a suicide bomber on a bicycle missed a police patrol and killed at least two civilians north of Baghdad, police said.

Six others were wounded in the attack in downtown Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, police said.

Meanwhile, some of the bloodshed appeared to be retaliation for a bomb and mortar attack in the Sadr City slum that killed at least 58 people and wounded more than 200 two days earlier.

Is this all a sign of impending civil war, or is it just an attempt to create further unrest in a fledgling democracy? Does it really matter what it is called? History does show that this type of violence does follow in the wake of massive government change — for example, the dissolution of the Soviet empire.

Here in the US some are painting this as a reason why we should leave Iraq. But their reasoning reminds me of my favorite story about excuses.

A guy goes to his neighbor and asks, “Can I borrow your ax?”

“I’m sorry. I can’t lend you my ax. I have to make soup.”

The guy looks at his neighbor, quite confused, and asks, “what does you making soup have to do with me borrowing your ax?”

His neighbor explains, “Nothing really, but if I don’t want to lend you my ax one excuse is as good as another.”

Civil War — or any label you want to put on it — we must not cut and run.

Linked with today’s picnic at basil’s blog.