The Blog of toussaint

OK. Let's get real about Iraq for a second.  First, I knew this war was a bad idea from the start but that doesn't matter anymore.  We are where we are.  But we will regret it if we leave Iraq a mess because Iraq is just too good of a base for terrorist.  It has oil for money laundering and vast deserted areas perfect for camps.  It is so close to Israel, they could bomb them with very simple warheads that they would get from Iran/Syria.  So, saying all that, what do we do?  We must bring the violence down by bringing in troops that the people on the ground will trust to protect them.  I mean that we should invite Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt to protect the Sunni areas; have the US pull back to bases in Kurdish areas to stop them from declaring independence or seizing the oil fields; and (this is where I will lose most of you) enroll Iran and Syria to patrol the Shiite areas.  Such a careful cultural arrangement would create a stand-off because all of the parties would know that if they tried to send death squads into an opposing area, someone with a vested interest would be there to challenge them. As it is now, when Shiite Iraqi troops are patrolling a Sunni area and they see Sadr's gang coming in, they turn the other way.  Once we get the violence down and everyone understands that they have to deal with each other, then we can get some progress on the politics.  I think Biden is right: we have to set up a Bosnian model of 3 regions tied loosely together by a central government whose main job would be to split up the oil.  If after all this strategic diplomacy, the Iraqis still failed to get their "shiite" together, we should bomb the place flat.  Just kidding (kinda) but how much are we expected to sacrifice for someone else's freedom?

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