What’s in a Name?

It’s all about the right name. Pulling out is not the way to put it. It’s either the eerie “stay the course,” or what?

Best to call it something most likely to win unilateral Executive Branch approval.

So let’s call “or what?” the Sharon Iraqi Peace Plan, or SIPP. Give the Iraqi “street,” the criminals and deadenders, or whatever, its most fervent desire: freedom from the occupier.

The SIPP is the really Sharon’s unilateral plan, which Bush backs wholeheartedly. (Sharon is putting up a fence and pulling out. Leaving the Palestinians to work out their new land themselves.)

Just to kick off the “or what?” chatter; say SIPP is a 5-year, 5-point plan that runs from now to the finish of 2008, the end of the next administration. It might go something like this:

1) Give Iraqis a month to draw two lines on the map. Wherever they like. Develop for, or with, each (Sunni middle, Shiite south, Kurds north.) a defense strategy for the three new territories. Help, as practical, to create defendable (if not impenetrable) borders of land mines, wire, etcLeave details of these fortifications to our military experts. (There will be some hots spots and some weak points, true.)

2) Arm (as if they need more weapons), organize and train the “militia” in each of the three regions. From June 30 to November 3 (like a deadline for any worker, even a CEO turning around a company around…or not). Keep it to small arms only, as much as possible. Maybe make public address announcements explaining how things were going getting split up and suggests that all Iraqis had best start organizing themselves in parties, militias, or, better yet, both. Offer, if requested, some useful reward for getting organized, like free “war college” seminars on the best way to defend the new borders and conferences to discuss ideas about democracy, government, etc..

3) Set a date certain for a pull back to secure areas for our troops (Again November 3, 2004). Leave them in defensible positions with access to easy resupply via the south and the north. This is assuming that Turkey would like to permit us to help ensure that the autonomous Kurds in the north stay out of Turkey. In the south, I assume our Gulf oil allies would like us between them and the “troubles” in Iraq Encourage, but do not oversee, elections.

4) With our troops removed safely to said secure locations, make it clear we’ll only step in to stop genocide. Hold this posture for three to four years. That should be enough time for the lines to harden, perhaps like North and South Korea, and for Iraqis themselves to organize functioning government to handle things. The people who used to do it are mostly still there. Iraqis themselves will figure out themselves how to fill needed positions. We offer no direct help on this stuff…their business. Stay put during inevitable border skirmishes. Move only if these escalate to full-scale invasions and then destroy the invading army units and immediately withdraw. No pacification. No nation building. No hearts and minds. No halfway measures. Cross the line; we help the other guy.

5) Encourage the Iraqis to get over it and get on with it…by putting it in their hands. If Iraqis want a single unified country, encourage them to arrange a “Continental Congress” and a “Constitutional Convention” to figure out the issues they all have with each other. Translate important works concerning democracy from Western to appropriate languages and make available on the Web.

The heart of the SIPP, or course, is the idea that Muslims have the right to be treated as adults, responsible for making their society safe and prosperous. With the light touch of a little well-handled disengagement by everyone else right about now, maybe Iraq will do better than Saddam this time. ¶ 9:22 AM