The sectarian violence following the bombing of the Shiite shrinein Samarra has pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war and dealt amajor setback to U.S. efforts to build a stable democracy-just asit was intended to do.As bad as the current situation is, it underscores the point thatmost Iraqi factions are better served by sharing power in abroad-based government than by following the call of Islamicextremists on either side.