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| Bush to outline three options for Iraq |
| 2006-12-09 |
| US President George W. Bush is focusing on three options to redefine the country's engagement in Iraq following a report by the Iraq Study Group, The Washington Post reported. Citing unnamed officials familiar with the debate, the paper said the major alternatives include a short-term surge of 15,000 to 30,000 additional US troops to secure Baghdad and accelerate the training of Iraqi forces. Another strategy would redirect the US military away from the internal strife to focus mainly on hunting terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda, according to the report. And the third would concentrate political attention on supporting the majority Shiites and abandon US efforts to reach out to Sunni insurgents. As Mr Bush and his advisers rush to complete their crash review and craft a new formula in the next two weeks, some close to the process said the major goal seems to be to stake out alternatives to the plan presented by the Iraq Study Group, The Post said. But the growing undercurrent of discussions within the administration is shifting responsibility for Iraq's problems to Iraqis, the paper reported. Sources familiar with the deliberations describe fatigue, frustration and a growing desire to disengage from Iraq, The Post said. The crash White House review – which involves the State Department, the National Security Council, the CIA and the Pentagon – is tentatively expected to lead to a speech to the nation the week of December 18, the paper said. While one of the options involves a surge of US troops, there is no agreement on what the mission of those forces would be, according to the report. Discussions centre on accelerating the training of Iraqi forces and helping secure Baghdad before turning it over to the Iraqis, The Post said. The goal could be to improve Iraq's defence capabilities so US combat troops could begin to withdraw faster. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #5 Option # four is missing: Bring back area-bombing and reduce Sadr City and Ramadi to piles of smouldering rubble. Oh, then get the hell out of Iraq. |
| Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden 2006-12-09 15:34 |
| #4 The Sunnis have been pouring out of the Iraq without any assistance thus far, Dr. Steve. From what I've noticed here at Rantburg, for the most part they're joining their compatriots in Jordan, Syria and Iran. The Iraqis pay close attention to our news, so no doubt this and similar reports will spur the on-going exodus without much effort on our part. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-12-09 14:59 |
| #3 Bush to outline three options for Iraq I wonder if the DemoCraps and our State dept. are factoring in an influx of a of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees becoming citizens here in the USA. /mindless nation of immigrants thingy... |
| Posted by: RD 2006-12-09 14:58 |
| #2 Suggestion: allow the Sunnis to move gracefully, lock stock and barrel, to Syria. They get out of a bad situation, they get to live again under a Ba'athist thug-dictatorship which seems to be their preference, and we get to concentrate our enemies into one place. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2006-12-09 12:45 |
| #1 I lean towards option 3, "concentrate political attention on supporting the majority Shiites and abandon US efforts to reach out to Sunni insurgents." The Sunni are doomed no matter what -- they've dug their own grave and it's just a matter how long it will take the Shia and Kurds to put them in it. So reaching out to them is a waste of time and resources. Also, we have to make sure that the Iraqi Shia don't become a puppet of the Iranian Shia. Given that the Iraqi Shia are predominately Arabs while Iran is dominated by Shia Persians -- and the minority populations of Iran are less than happy with their Persian masters, that may not be as difficult as many people seem to think. |
| Posted by: PatP 2006-12-09 12:06 |