Pulling out of Iraq

Interesting article over at Commondreams by Johann Hari (reprinted from the Independent) on how we might extricate ourselves from Iraq, reading from a plan by George McGovern. Step one; admit that as a nation we made a big mistake invading Iraq. Seems unlikely, unfortunately. We Americans have been trained to see ourselves as the good guys in this sort of situation. The best we can probably muster up is a weak "We meant well" style of apology.

But admitting our culpability in the current Iraq situation is a necessary step in extricating ourselves from it.

There must then be a commitment to dismantle all permanent US bases on Iraqi soil, and to allow Iraqis to own their country’s oil - with royalties paid equally to every citizen, in a regular cheque, like they do in Alaska.

The US then needs to convene a regional conference, at which it pledges to pay full-whack for an international stabilisation force to police Iraq, manned exclusively by Muslim countries such as Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Jordan. These countries will need all sorts of financial inducements to send troops. Tough. Pay them.

Strong words. But the plan could work.