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Mission to be decided
Now that so many Americans -- even Democrats! -- seem to agree that we should withdraw from Iraq soon, it's time to figure out how.
By Joe Conason [2005-12-09]

  • Can we pull this off with the leaders we currently have?

    This is "Nation Building 101". Now that the U.S. has invaded and occupied Iraq it is morally responsible for what is going to happen in that country. Even those of us who have never approved of invading Iraq now share this view.

    Mr. Conason is advocating the right idea: The fight against the Iraqi insurgency can not be won militarily. Thus it needs to be resolved via compromise through negotiations between Shiites,the Sunni minority, the Kurds and other, and with great diplomatic help from the United States. However, diplomacy is not a skill that the current U.S administration has great command over. So this plan is bound to fail. Mr. Conason’s plan can only work if the U.S. administration learns to skillfully use diplomacy and peaceful conflict resolution within a completely foreign cultural setting. Is that a likely scenario? Do we have the right leaders to deal with this situation?

    -- JosefG
    [Read JosefG's other letters]
    Thursday, December 8, 2005 09:08 PM
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