The idea that Iraq might be partitioned into three distinct entities has been intermittently considered since the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003. In the partition scenario, Iraq would be divided into a federation of three entities, Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni. Each area would all have relative autonomy, but also be joined under the rule of one centralized government.
Many Kurds, who are the largest ethnic minority in the Middle East, are in favor of an autonomous region in northern Iraq, where they predominate. Kurds and Kurdish identity were severely repressed during the reign of Saddam Hussein; Kurds may not be easily assimilated into an Iraqi national identity that is essentially Arab; and Kirkuk, the de facto capital of the Kurdish region, is valuable, oil-rich territory.
However, many regional and Western observers doubt that partition will make the country safer, or solve conflicts between Sunnis and Shiites. The Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Prince Turki Al Faisal, has warned that the country's population is actually very intermingled, and that "ethnic cleansing on a massive scale, sectarian killing on a massive scale, and the uprooting of families" would be the likely result of partition.
As of October 2006, the Bush Administration both acknowledged that partition was among the political solutions considered for Iraq, and denied vigorously that partition would ever be pursued.