The "solution" to Iraq's civil war

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ted Kircher <tkircher () comcast net>
Date: August 21, 2006 8:08:03 AM EDT
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: The "solution" to Iraq's civil war
Reply-To: Ted Kircher <tkircher () comcast net>

Dave, for IPers if you wish.
----- Original Message -----
From: John McAuliff
To: Recipient list suppressed
Sent: Sunday, August 20, 2006 9:36 PM
Subject: The "solution" to Iraq's civil war

A key intellectual cheerleader of US intervention in Iraq was Kenneth  
Pollack of the Brookings Institution.  Lending credibility to his  
analysis was that, as far as I know, he was not associated with the  
Republican neo-cons.  I was startled during the run up to the Iraq  
war to have Pollack cited favorably in a conversation I had with Sen.  
Hillary Clinton's chief foreign policy adviser (which may explain a  
lot about why she has been such a disappointment).

Pollack co authors a long and frightening piece in Sunday's  
Washington Post:

"The debate is over: By any definition, Iraq is in a state of civil  
war. Indeed, the only thing standing between Iraq and a descent into  
total Bosnia-like devastation is 135,000 U.S. troops -- and even they  
are merely slowing the fall. The internecine conflict could easily  
spiral into one that threatens not only Iraq but also its neighbors  
throughout the oil-rich Persian Gulf region with instability, turmoil  
and war...

Considering how many mistakes the United States has made in Iraq, how  
much time has been squandered, and how difficult the task is, even a  
serious course correction in Washington and Baghdad may only postpone  
the inevitable. "

His complex solution  requires (can you guess):

"Considering Iraq's much larger population, it probably would require  
450,000 troops to quash an all-out civil war there. Such an effort  
would require a commitment of enormous military and economic  
resources, far in excess of what the United States has already put  
forth. "

Read the full article to see what Washington foreign policy theorists  
have in mind for us next.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082006Z.shtml

And if you missed ABC's This Week, you can watch on broad band a  
saner perspective from Senator Kerry in his interview with George  
Stephanopoulos  http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/
John McAuliff
Executive Director
Fund for Reconciliation and Development
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