How ISIS is overshadowing al Qaeda . Division of Iraq into ethnic regions is more likely than ever before . Iraq officials say cycle of violence is hardening sectarian divide -- reducing chance of negotiated separation . Sunni areas in west would not be economically viable unless they received tax revenues from other regions . Independent Sunni areas , free from discrimination by majority Shia ##s , would escape extremist rule .
Division of Iraq into ethnic regions is more likely than ever before . Iraq officials say cycle of violence is hardening sectarian divide -- reducing chance of negotiated separation . Sunni areas in west would not be economically viable unless they received tax revenues from other regions . Independent Sunni areas , free from discrimination by majority Shia ##s , would escape extremist rule .