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Editorial Commentary
Scott Sullivan : Clinton Must
Endorse Richardson Plan/Odom
The US has three options for dealing with Iran in Iraq – collaboration; confrontation; or avoidance of Iran via the early withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq, as suggested by Bill Richardson. President Bush has discredited the policies of US-Iran collaboration and US-Iran confrontation. The preferred option by far is avoidance of Iran in Iraq because this is the best way for the US to deter Iran.US policy under President Bush has focused primarily on US-Iran collaboration in Iraq. Beginning in 2001 the US coordinated military strategy and occupation policy with Tehran via Ahmed Chalabi and other Iranian leaders (as reported in Radio Europe/Radio Liberty). The US then selected Tehran-based political parties as partners including Nouri al-Malaki’s Dawa (The Call) and Abdul al-Hakim’s Supreme Council for the Liberation of Iraq (SCIRI).
Moreover, the US looked the other way as Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) sent thousands of military advisors across the open Iran-Iraq border. The IRGC immediately began building its own version of a pro-Iran Hezbollah by cooperating with the Badr Brigade and other pro-Iran militias.
Unfortunately for President Bush, his policy of US-Iran collaboration in Iraq has failed for four reasons. First, Iran and its Nazi leadership are not interested in sharing power with the US in Iraq. Second, the Iranian-Kurdish plan of partitioning Iraq between the Kurds, the Shi’ites and the Sunni’s is unworkable because it is rejected by most Iraqis as well as all of Iraq’s neighbors. Third, Iran’s government as a partner in Iraq is unacceptable to the US public because Iran is deeply involved in terrorism in the Middle East and South America. Fourth, the UK and France oppose a policy of US-Iran collaboration in Iraq.
Once US-Iran collaboration in Iraq began to fail in August 2007, President Bush turned his attention to a policy of US-Iran confrontation in Iraq. The insurmountable difficulty for a policy of US-Iran confrontation is that the US is no longer considered to be a reliable ally against Iran by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Without military and diplomatic support from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Syria, the US would have no chance of deterring Iran in Iraq.
Moreover, Iraq’s Kurds now support Iran, not the US, as evidenced by comments yesterday on the part of Iraqi president Talabani (who is a Kurd) that he now favored breaking Iraq into three regions, as promoted by Iran.
In addition, the US could confront Iran in Iraq only if it dropped Talabani as an ally and replaced him with Muqtada al-Sadr. This is an excellent idea, long recommended by IranWatch.com, but is not going to happen due to opposition from Bush’s political base.
Furthermore, Clinton, Edwards, and Obama all recommend leaving a strong residual US combat force in Iraq or in the neighboring states to confront Iran. In reality, given Bush’s consistent track record of support for Iran, such a residual US combat force would backfire by emboldening Iran, demoralizing the Arab states, and inhibitinng Arab willingness to take the lead on Iraq.
The only remaining US option is a policy of immediate withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq (the Ritchardson Plan). This is an excellent US move because it would maximize Arab support for a UN/Arab peacekeeping force in Iraq. Once such an Arab peacekeeping force is in place in Basra and Kirkuk, Iraq’s future stability will be assured.
In short, only one viable option exists for Senator Clinton on the issue of US-Iran relations in Iraq – endorse Bill Richardson’s Plan for the immediate withdrawal of all US military personnel in Iraq.
Scott Sullivan is a former Washington government employee. Petroleumworld not necessarily share these views. Petroleumworld does not necessarily share these views.Editor's note: All comments posted and published on Petroleumworld, do not reflect either for or against the opinion expressed in the comment as an endorsement of Petroleumworld. All comments expressed are private comments and do not necessary reflect the view of this website. All comments are posted and published without liability to Petroleumworld.
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Petroleumworld News 10/10/07
Copyright© 2007 Scott Sullivan. All rights reserved.
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