Iraq Plan
The way forward...
The single largest challenge facing America and the world today is what to do about Iraq. Because it is tied to so many other things, there are no simple solutions. And because it has been so mismanaged by the US, there are no good options, only bad options and worse options. Here are the comprehensive steps that must be taken from this point to begin trending in the right direction. It should take less than 12 months to carry out this plan and it should begin immediately.
Step 1: The Apology
Any plan for change in Iraq should first being with an apology from the President of the United States on the floor of the United Nations. The President should apologize to the UN for misleading that body into approving the use of force in Iraq based on faulty intelligence. The President should apologize to our allies for taking them to a war that was unnecessary. The President should apologize to the Middle East region states in particular for causing increased tensions within Islam and between Islam and the West. Finally, and most importantly, the President should apologize to the Iraqi people for the death and chaos that has resulted from our occupation of their county.
However, it should be made clear here, that the President does not owe any form of explanation on the world stage for the actions or motivations of United States of America. That debt will be owed to the Congress and the American people.
Step 2: The Withdraw
Send a clarion signal to Iraq and the world that the military occupation of Iraq is ending. To do this we must make our detailed plans known and they must be verifiable by the Iraqis themselves. Then, and this is the important part, we must start meeting our own deadlines for withdraw with clockwork regularity so that our words are believable to the Iraqis. Only then will the Iraqi people step in to fill the void. Only with detailed plans of our departure can they know where and when to step in to fill the void.
Our planning for this withdraw should begin as soon as possible and should be done in conjunction with the Iraqi Parliament so that as it is implemented they are aware and on board with what comes after.
Step 3: The Dialog
Begin the dialog with Iraq and its neighbors on how to quell the tensions in the region. This needs to be a Diplomatic effort, not a military one. The people doing the talking should be civilians, not uniformed Generals. We should employ the translators who were expelled from military service because of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and put them to work in the State Department.
Start with iron clad assurances that the Iraqi oil belongs to Iraq and that no other government or international corporation is entitled to any portion of it. Work with the Iraqi Parliament on developing plans for sharing the oil revenue between the three major groups within Iraq based on population, rather than occupied lands.
Abandon the notion that we can impose from the outside the creation of an ethnically diverse Iraqi Army. Work with the Iraqi Parliament on local control and local policing along ethnic lines to reduce the sectarian violence. Use Kurdistan in the north as an example. Focus on creating loyal multicultural Arabic-only security forces in the few areas where ethnic populations are mixed, such as Baghdad proper. This will be the seed corps for the future Iraq Army.
Step 4: The Rebuilding
The US should spearhead the effort to ask for international help on the rebuilding of the Iraqi infrastructure and to reacquire the refugee middle class. The rebuilding effort should hire Iraqi labor and management. It should not bring in contractors from the US or anywhere else. One of the things the Iraqi people should be able to see and measure as we withdraw is an improvement in their daily lives: Jobs; clean water; reliable electricity; operating hospitals and schools; and functioning markets for goods and services.
Conclusion:
This plan affords Iraq the best possible chance to make the country whole again which is vital for the security interests of the US and the world. It should be noted that there will be instances where ethic violence erupts as the internal forces within Iraq rebalance and normalize. Because of this, the primary role of US and UN forces should be contained to border security so as to avoid taking sides in what is ultimately a civil matter. Eventually these forces can be replaced by Iraqi Army forces which are loyal to a whole Iraq once the local scenes are stabilized and the rebuilding has begun.