It's a legitimate question and one that needs asking.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A top Shiite political figure has joined the top Shiite cleric in Iraq in urging unity and self-restraint among citizens, an effort to calm sectarian hostilities before they degenerate into a full-blown civil war.

Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), Friday called the bombing of the Al-Askariya "Golden Mosque" in Samarra a strike against all Iraqis.

The attack on Wednesday triggered Shiite reprisals across Iraq, including the killings of Sunni Arabs, attacks on their mosques and institutions, and mass protests.

Al-Hakim blamed the Golden Mosque bombing not on Iraqi Sunnis, but "takfiris," or extremists, who don't represent Islam, and he cited people such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of al Qaeda in Iraq.

And, he said, Iraqis must unite to fight them. (Watch a country struggling to stay together -- 2:38)

Al-Hakim's remarks, issued in a statement read on Iraqi TV, echoed those by the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who asked Shiite "believers to peacefully express their sorrow and peacefully denounce and condemn this act."

Now some on the right are claiming that those of us on the Left, want Civil War in Iraq. Just to make Bush look bad. There might be some who are that jaded. But in reality, Civil War in Iraq is bad for ALL Americans. Civil War will just further destabilize a region that seems to be reeling from one crises to another.

I hope that cooler heads prevail and that the leaders of the Sunni and Shia came come together. But imagine the outrage of Catholics if someone blew up The Cathedral of Notre Dame... One thing that needs to happen is that we all need to gain a better understanding of how Muslims revere their traditions and Holy sites, perhaps by putting ourselves in their shoes.

I cant see myself using the act of terror that destroyed the Mosque as a hammer against Bush, but logic dictates that we look at the broader picture of security in Iraq, and realize that it is FUBAR. This fact can justify a wide range of arguments against the war. At what point do we look at the balance sheet and say, "we have caused more harm to this country and it's people, than good." I don't know the answer to that question. What I do know is that it is a question that needs asking....

I leave you with this:

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