Though infinitely complicated, the Iraq imbroglio is not one that defies a solution. An understanding among the various groups warring each other can be reached at and the stability of the country restored. The task, of course, is not easy. The first step, obviously, should be to end all sorts of foreign intervention. The second step, the most difficult part, is persuading the diverse Iraqi groups to agree on a national reconciliation plan.
As a first move the United States and Britain should announce a timetable for a phased withdrawal of their forces from the war-battered country. They should not hesitate to hand over the actual control to the local people.
Though the Western forces dislodged the Saddam regime, the US did not have a viable plan to fill the ensuing vacuum. Contrary to the promises of ushering in a dawn of democracy, the Iraqis were hurled into ever-increasing chaos and endless bloodshed. The stated objectives of the US and Britain were ostensibly a façade to protect their covert strategic and economic interests in the region.
To save Iraq from total disintegration Washington should stop interfering in the political affairs of Iraq and confine its activities to assisting the security forces until the army withdrawal was completed. The local security forces can enlist the soldiers of the former Iraqi Army. This could be a move in the right direction because they once constituted a well-disciplined and capable army that above all had a national vision. The present Iraqi security forces and police can rely on their experience and skill when the US and British forces leave the country.
The most difficult part on the road to peace in Iraq is bringing together all the militant groups divided on political and religious lines such as Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds, Chaldeans and other tribal entities spread out in the desert regions. Some sort of national reconciliation among these fighting groups could be achieved only with cool and flexible moves.
The Iraqi groups with their diverse allegiances should realize that a united Iraq would be stronger and prosperous than a divided and disintegrating Iraq. They should realize too that a weak and divided Iraq in the midst of a weak Arab and Muslim world is what the West has always been aiming at.
Therefore, the Iraqis have no other choice than to look for grounds that would allow them to unite. Let them stop their mutual threats and their representatives meet and talk about driving out their common enemies who strive to keep Iraqis apart and deprive them of their national sovereignty. The foreign forces ravaged and laid waste to the Iraqi towns and villages with no valid justification. They sent out more than four million Iraqis to streets as refugees. Iraq is on the verge of partition. These are all done by the US and its allies with no justifiable reason.
The meeting could be held in a country with some political clout such as Saudi Arabia or Egypt. For instance, they could meet in Taif as the Lebanese groups did to end their civil war. Other countries should do everything to help the Iraqis arrive at a peaceful settlement of their problems.
Iraqis should be cautious of Israel’s clandestine activities on the banks of the Euphrates River. The American forces’ permission to Israel to be present at places where it has no right to be is reminiscent of the British support to the Jews to settle in Palestine under the British Mandate. The Europeans had driven the Jews from their midst with the aim of getting rid of them. The West also wanted the Israelis to sow dissent and disagreement among the Arabs.
The cooperation of three countries is essential for the success of the proposed conference. They are Iran, Turkey and Syria, which have common borders with Iraq. The ominous reports coming from Iraq these days warn of increasing violence and a civil war refuting the claim of the US president that things are improving in the country he invaded.
A senior Marine commander in Iraq, Gen. James Conway, says the US forces need more time (nine to ten years) than American people are willing to concede, if they are to put down the insurgency.
