An Accord In Iraq?

Robert Dreyfuss

...But when the plan was revealed, it included neither a timetable nor an amnesty. The plan also didn’t include any incentive to Iraq’s Baathists. What happened? According to various reports, including the New York Times, the Maliki plan went through several drafts, and it was pummeled by both the Shiite religious hardliners and by the U.S. embassy. Maliki’s "decision appeared to have been influenced by religious Shiites who form his base and by the American military command," added the Times. The issue of a U.S. withdrawal is a deal-breaker for most of the resistance. What drives the resistance in Iraq is the occupation itself. According to resistance leaders I have spoken with, the insurgents are willing to declare a truce in order to allow U.S. forces to carry out an orderly withdrawal from Iraq, but they aren’t willing to make a deal that tolerates the continuation of the occupation. So, by excluding a timetable, Maliki makes it next to impossible for the main body of the resistance to sign a deal...

continua / continued