Iraq: Oil law, bases show intent - by Jim Mullins
Jim Mullins is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington, D.C., and a resident of Delray Beach.
Current events emit a distinctive odor of the Vietnam War's reality-ignored in 1968 when it was also obvious that the war was lost. Five more years of Vietnamization saw almost as many Americans killed as in the previous years. We settled for peace terms in 1973 that were attainable in 1968. The region is poised to explode in a conflagration that the surge of 21,500 or more U.S. troops in Baghdad's sectarian fighting could ignite. An unprovoked attack on Iran would spread the contagion, with untold consequences.
Engaging Iraq's neighbors would facilitate a withdrawal and could work to lessen the tension that our occupation fosters and lead to a successful conclusion. A comprehensive Middle East peace conference -- with all the regional actors working toward a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the Arab League's 2002 offer of Israeli recognition by all Arab countries, implementation of U.N. Resolution 242 and negotiations to settle all other disagreements by diplomatic means -- could avoid the inevitable.
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