Bush’s ideological quagmire
Iraq has become as much a quandary as it is a quagmire. If American troops leave precipitously, the country will descend into a horrific civil war, perhaps even worse than what is happening now. Yet so long as our troops remain, more Iraqis are provoked into supporting the insurgency, and the situation continues to deteriorate.
The best and perhaps only way out is a negotiated settlement, reached under the auspices of the United Nations and Iraq’s neighbors — which could eventually persuade the Sunni nationalist rebels to lay down their weapons and enter the nascent political system instead. The way to bring the insurgents to the bargaining table is to promise that if they agree to a cease-fire and begin talks with the Iraqi government, we will begin to withdraw troops — and to assure the Iraqis that a successful negotiation would lead to our complete withdrawal.
No doubt Bush would reply that we must not “negotiate with terrorists,” but that would merely be more diversionary and meaningless verbiage. The long-standing policy of the U.S. government is to deal when necessary with governments that sponsor terror, such as Pakistan and Iran — and to encourage our allies, such as Israel, to negotiate with terrorist groups. Certainly we can negotiate with the Sunni insurgents, despite their vile tactics, in order to bring peace and stability to Iraq.
Should that effort ultimately succeed, it could bring a valuable dividend. If and when the Sunni rebels decide to end their insurgency, they may well decide that the time has come to expel (or kill) Zarqawi and his irreconcilable gang of Islamist murderers. To whatever extent the former Baathists and other disgruntled Sunnis have been working with their old enemies in al-Qaida or other radical Islamists, their alliance of convenience is likely to crumble after the invasion and occupation that brought them together are over. By decoupling Arab nationalism from Islamist terrorism, the damage that Bush’s war has done to American interests can begin to be repaired.
Joe Conason | Salon (read more. . .)