Negotiate with Iraqi insurgents? What could go wrong?
See-Dubya
Remember how the Iraq Survey Group report suggested we ought to strengthen Iraq's moderates and negotiate with the insurgency's national sponsors--Iran and Syria--to bring it under control? The ISG report just wasn't wrong enough for some "experts", who want to skip the middlemen and negotiate directly with the terrorists. Problem is, the terrorists don't want to negotiate, their demands are laughable, and they can't carry out their promises to disarm.
Despite a cringe-inducing headline ("Talks with radicals called key to ending violence ; U.S. must negotiate with insurgents and militias, experts say"), this San Francisco Chronicle report actually has a lot to recommend it.
The focus is too much on these experts with the International Crisis Group, which is a Brussels-based think tank with George Soros, Wesley Clark, and LGF's favorite EU bureaucrat, Chris Patten, on its board. They advocate U.N.-mediated talks with every insurgent group except Al-Qaeda.
That's not all that surprising, is it? What is revealing is the Chronicle's attempt to actually find out what the insurgents would be willing (and able) to bring to the table. They asked some insurgents. The answer? Nada: ...
