Post-war Iraq - what will it look like?

Here's a look at the scenarios that could be played out in a post-war iraq.

US troops are expected to be staying in iraq for as long as it takes to secure a stable transitional post saddam government.

Analysts estimate post war reconstruction will cost the u.s nearly 16 billion us dollars in the first year alone.

The US troops will be part of the 75,000 strong US and Allied Forces that will be deployed in Iraq.

Thier task will be to secure the country and control its borders.

Senior White House officials say the use of troops is also essential to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and to help rebuild the nation's infrastructure.

This is until a new regime, possibility led by the local opposition, is in place.

It's a scenario similar to the post Taliban era in Afghanistan.

However, officials and analysts are careful not to make the US and allied presence a military occupation of Iraq.

Any hint if that would inflame iraqis and neighboring Muslims in an already highly hostile environment.

In a country with huge ethnic and religious differences, as well as different agendas for a post saddam regime, instant democracy will not come easy or anytime soon.

Like it or not, Saddam's iron rule has kept the iraqi people united. So what could happen if there is no iron rule?

Editor of Newsweek International, Dr Fareed Zakaria said, "Some radical group or the other, some lone criminal or the other, so you have to deal with it, whether or not you agree with the particular solution the US has approached. I think it's fair to say that there is a very serious rationale for thinking of Iraq as a problem."

Whatever the future has in store, Iraqis will just have to sit and wait like the rest of the world, to see what plays out.