Iraq: A Quick Look At The News

There sure is a lot going on this week concerning the War in Iraq. Every day more and more people are beginning to voice doubts and concerns that were conspicuously absent in the heady days of Nuclear Saddam and his WMD's.

Even the Iraqis themselves seem to have come to a crossroads and have passed a law that will see autonomous regions emerge. This is, in effect, partition, and will do little to lessen the religious and ethnic divisions that are fuelling the current civil war. The natural resources of Iraq, and their distribution, will certainly ignite regional conflicts and will quite likely draw other nations in the region into the fray.

There has been a report, published in a leading British medical journal and disputed by both the American and British governments, that the Iraqi death toll, since the start of the invasion, may be as high as 650,000. This would amount to 2.5 percent of the population. This figure, added to the estimated 1,000,000 Iraqis who have fled the country, would indicate that the war to "liberate" Iraq (population 26 million) has almost decimated it. And, contrary to earlier reports from the White House, the mission has yet to be accomplished.

Yesterday the top British Army Commander, Gen. Richard Dannatt, voiced his opinion that the UK troops were making the situation worse in Iraq and should be pulled out. In an interview with The Daily Mail, a conservative leaning British national newspaper, he said:

"I think history will show that the planning for what happened after the initial successful war fighting phase was poor, probably based more on optimism than sound planning."

"I don't say that the difficulties we are experiencing round the world are caused by our presence in Iraq but undoubtedly our presence in Iraq exacerbates them."

Britain should "get ... out sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems", he said.

Meanwhile, in the United States, James Baker, a long-time bureaucrat and prominant Republican, has co-chaired a bipartisan panel to reassess the strategy of the war. In a recent interview he expressed ideas that are not mere echoes of the Bush Administration's constant "stay the course" rhetoric. He has even suggested that the US should engage in talks with countries in the region that George W. Bush has so far refused to talk to, such as Iran and Syria. To quote from an article in the New York Times:

"I believe in talking to your enemies," he said Sunday in an interview on ABC television, noting that he made 15 trips to Damascus while serving Bush's father as secretary of state.

"It's got to be hard-nosed, it's got to be determined," Baker said. "You don't give away anything, but in my view, it's not appeasement to talk to your enemies."

"I think it's fair to say our commission believes that there are alternatives between the stated alternatives, the ones that are out there in the political debate, of 'stay the course' and 'cut and run,'" Baker said

There are very serious and difficult decisions ahead for the Iraqis and their neighbors, and the American and British governments.

1. How can an equitable and acceptable solution to the internal disputes and divisions in Iraq be accomplished?

2.What level of involvement, or non-involvement, by neighboring countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Kuwait, Turkey, and Russia will be helpful to the developement of a stable and succesfull Iraq and a more stable Middle East?

3. In the face of increasing violence and political instability, what strategic changes should be made by the United States and Britain in order to secure a long-term stability in the region?

We shall see.