http://www.qando.net/ – Iraq Options
Secondly, the militias must be disarmed. Period. Governments can’t afford to share power like that and expect to have their authority respected. Right now there are alternative governments functioning within Iraq and Iraqi’s loyalties are divided. It is critical that be eliminated as a part of the problem. Of course, that means making hard decisions, acting on them and acting forcefully and with no exceptions. Unfortunately I’ve seen little indication to this point the government of Iraq is up to that task.
I truly don’t think this is the way to go. Why is this any different than the Democrats plans in the U.S. for disarming the populace. These people have to be able to defend themselves as well. What’s true here, that the government is unable to take the guns away from the bad guys, is also true over there. So the only people who would be giving up their guns would be the ones that need them most to defend themselves. I think that what really needs to happen is that we need to get these different groups together and ask them, “What do they want for Iraq?” If they can all agree on something, great, there you go. If they can’t let them create their own state/country/whatever. If we don’t like the government they come up with, too bad, they’re not governing us. We need to let these people come up with their own solutions, not force ours down their throat. I think that is what is causing the insurgency as much as anything else. I think Jon Henke puts it well:
Get over the chest-thumping rhetoric, and recognize that the time for tanks has passed and the time for clear-headed consideration of ’what’s still possible’ is at hand. Republicans used to understand that there were a lot of things that the government just can’t do well, no matter how much money it threw at the problem.
Nation-building in a society that doesn’t like our social architecture is probably one of those things.
In the meantime, if we have the chance to reduce our exposure in Iraq while still guiding them towards an optimal state of affairs, then we should take it and be glad it’s available before distaste for the situation leads us to abandon another potential ally altogether.
The time for blowing stuff up is over. We need to bring people to the table, and try our best for an outcome that we can stomach. We need to realize that this is not our society, and that they don’t follow our customs. We may not like it, but it is not our country.