My option of bringing a cleaned up remorseful Ahmed Challabi to the head of Iraq (see my previous blog on that subject) might be the only way to go to minimise bloodshed (impossible to stop it altogether for another year)... Challabi, a liar, spruiker first class, a person who's intelligent enough to pacify and control most Iraqi tempers with the right rhetoric, and be able to deal with Iran since he is a shia, and deal with the CIA since he knows the ropes to hang himself. and push the yanks' corrupt ways away.. Start a campaign to present him as the "Attaturk" of Turkey at the beginning of last century, tighten security around him, re-invite the Europeans at the petrol-conference, share a bit with the yanks, sell in Euros and bob's your uncle if the yanks are prepared to give a bit of ballast. The US troops then can start withdrawing at a rate of 10,000 a month. In 15 month, Iraq is on its own fragile device but rebuilding from the grass roots... Mission accomplished apart from the petrol flowing in all directions.. to the chagrin of the US administration but for the best of world peace.

No, I can't agree with you on that one Gus.

As far as I'm concerned, Chalabi is complicit in the carnage wrought in Iraq, including the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians. He was up to his rotten neck with Perle, Wolfwitz, Cheney & Rumsfeld, as they mounted their lunatic & criminal plot, to benefit Cheney's corporate playpals. And that's not taking account of his earlier criminal activities.

If the world would seriously consider Chalabi as part of the solution, it would make just as much sense to put Saddam back into power.

Given that my earlier suggestion that the UN take responsibility won't work (the US would never agree to place its forces under UN command), the only real solution is for the US to broker a deal with Iran & Syria, so that they use their influence to reign-in the militias & give a genuinely secular Iraqi government a chance to put the country back together.

Any such agreement would also require the Israeli / Palestinian problem to be resolved; Iran to be allowed to continue with its nuclear program or, alternatively, Israel destroys its nuclear arsenal; the US gives-up control of Iraq's oil industry & gets the hell out of the middle-east, along with the rest of the coalition of fools.

Yes John... I know... it's an unpalatable solution but what else is there except more bloodshed?

Iraq, caught in its struggling demolished ways, needs a local "benevolent" dictator to rule and to galvanise a greater base of public thrust... It sounds crazy but to me it's the only solution. Someone whose ability to quietly control the crowds with the modern means of communication and without violence, under supervision of his peers, not the yanks... Is there someone else in the ranks?... someone who's non religiously aligned, someone who has a certain charisma? Possibly but we have not seen him/her yet... Overall, that's the true price of solving this war into peace... Like solving depression through the only two paths available: A) angry reactive violence or B) infusing delusion of things being fine, while a friend holds your hand... This friend cannot be the US, it has to be a local figure.

Then after a while of reinforced positivity, whomever who has created the illusion of unity can be ousted with graceful acceptance from his/her part, and the democracy can grow up a bit better under better skies, with much less violence...

Delusional restoration of stability would certainly be better than more and more violence to oblivion... Only a thought.

From the Ideal Government website, A polite word with the clunking great fist:

Speaking of crude violence, there's an excellent new petition service on the Number 10 web site, set up by our friends at MySociety. And the very first petition is that we champion nuclear non-proliferation by not replacing Trident, an absurdly expensive and destructive piece of technology made by some clever people called Lockheed Martin whose talents need to be put to better use (but whose massive forward order book says the unenlightened world will remain addicted to violence and expensive weapons systems for some time to come. Just say no, people!).

‘Tony Blair has admitted the Iraq war has been a disaster in a ground breaking interview with al-Jazeera, the controversial Arab satellite TV channel.

The Prime Minister's remarks - aimed at a largely Arab audience around the world - will be seized on by his critics as proof that the war was a mistake.

However, Mr Blair made clear he blamed insurgents for the chaos since the fall of Saddam. Challenged by Sir David Frost, the veteran broadcaster, that the western intervention in Iraq had "been pretty much of a disaster", he responded: "It has."’

Blair Admits Iraq War Has Been A Disaster

“The solutions are so obvious that Maliki does not need Bush to tell him about them,” said Huda, a 40-year-old graphic designer in Baghdad, who would give only her first name out of concern for her safety.

“Mr. Maliki had many chances before to show his ability, but he failed,” she said. “We need a strong man and he is not like this at all.”