Is Iraq on the Verge of Total Chaos?

Surge or not the situation is rapidly deteriorating in Iraq:

A much anticipated US intelligence report warned yesterday that the rising violence in Iraq could permanently tear the country apart and, in the worst case, create a state of anarchy with no legitimate authority that combines "extreme ethnosectarian violence with debilitating intragroup clashes."

House of cards:

But all the efforts of US and Iraqi authorities could rapidly collapse following another "triggering" event like the Sunni attack on a Shi'ite Muslim shrine in February 2006 that set off the current cycle of sectarian violence, according to the published excerpts of the 90-page report.

"Should these events take place, they could spark an abrupt increase in communal and insurgent violence and shift Iraq's trajectory from gradual decline to rapid deterioration with grave humanitarian, political, and security consequences," according to the estimate, titled "Prospects for Iraq's Stability: A Challenging Road Ahead."