Biden and Gelb defend their partition plan for Iraq
In the Washington Post the two major proponents for partitioning Iraq deny that they want to partition Iraq. Having seen Biden describe his idea on several occasions, I do not buy his denial.
More importantly, the Iraqis do not buy his idea of what the end state in Iraq should be and they are the ones who are going to make that decision, not Biden. He can say that Maliki is distorting his idea, but that just suggest that Biden is inarticulate about it.
The fact is that the Iraqis are engaged in a grassroots reconciliation effort that is empowering people at the local level already. But where this is happening their is no suggestion that their is a desire for separating from the national government. In Anbar, where the most progress has been made and where the grassroots process began, the Sheiks still want to be associated with the national government and their forces have joined the national police and army to effect the ouster of al Qaeda.
The mistake that Biden and Gelb make is that they are proposing another top down solution for Iraq, that no one really wants, while the country is in the middle of a huge bottom up change that will be more effective and more permanent.
The bottom line is that if the Iraqis don't want it, it si not going to happen. Biden and Gelb are not going to bet any backing for imposing their solution through the use of force.
More importantly, the Iraqis do not buy his idea of what the end state in Iraq should be and they are the ones who are going to make that decision, not Biden. He can say that Maliki is distorting his idea, but that just suggest that Biden is inarticulate about it.
The fact is that the Iraqis are engaged in a grassroots reconciliation effort that is empowering people at the local level already. But where this is happening their is no suggestion that their is a desire for separating from the national government. In Anbar, where the most progress has been made and where the grassroots process began, the Sheiks still want to be associated with the national government and their forces have joined the national police and army to effect the ouster of al Qaeda.
The mistake that Biden and Gelb make is that they are proposing another top down solution for Iraq, that no one really wants, while the country is in the middle of a huge bottom up change that will be more effective and more permanent.
The bottom line is that if the Iraqis don't want it, it si not going to happen. Biden and Gelb are not going to bet any backing for imposing their solution through the use of force.
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