The Future of Iraq

My last post suggested a need for a strategy in Iraq. Here's what Henry Kissinger has to offer:

Kissinger ... called for an international conference bringing together the permanent members of the United Nations' Security Council, Iraq's neighbors — including Iran — and regional powers like India and Pakistan to work out a way forward for the region.

I think that's probably a good start.

I was struck by his general pessimism about a "victory":

If you mean by 'military victory' an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control in a time period that the political processes of the democracies will support, I don't believe that is possible.

I'm not quite as skeptical as he is perhaps, but that kind of "victory" is not looking likely right now.