2007.07.09: July 9, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Congo Kinshasa: Foreign Policy: Brookings Institute: Iraq: UPI: Michael O'Hanlon claims "soft partition" already occurring in Iraq
Peace Corps Online:
Directory:
Congo - Kinshasa (Zaire):
Special Report: National Security Expert and Congo Kinshasa RPCV Michael O'Hanlon:
2007.07.09: July 9, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Congo Kinshasa: Foreign Policy: Brookings Institute: Iraq: UPI: Michael O'Hanlon claims "soft partition" already occurring in Iraq
Michael O'Hanlon claims "soft partition" already occurring in Iraq
Although senior Iraqi officials have strongly opposed a partition and the Bush administration has no interest in it, O'Hanlon claims that it's already occurring. "It is what's happening on the ground. Iraq is being torn apart; Iraq is being divided along sectarian lines whether most Iraqis want it or not. Al-Qaida strategy in that regard has been working," he said. "Iraq is being ethnically segregated. Ethnic cleansing is on its way, it's happening, and at least a couple million people have been displaced. It's becoming Bosnia in some ways. "We would rather manage the process than have the death squads and the militias do the separation for us," O'Hanlon said. "The United States cannot impose partition for Iraq. Only Iraqis can decide this," Joseph said. "Iraqis have already agreed to an extent. The constitution already contains the fundamental vision for a soft partition." The plan would call for American troops to stay in Iraq for 12 to 18 months in order to help protect Iraqis relocating to their own sect's region. Although such a move would be voluntary, Joseph said the pressure of being a minority in a hostile neighborhood would eventually sway those who decide not to move. Regional boundaries would have to be drawn, with outside help, to mediate any arguments over territory. Those who would have to be uprooted, estimated at 5 million by O'Hanlon and Joseph, would then have to be given assistance in building a new life. That would be done through a house-swapping scheme and a job-creation program, which should create 3 million jobs paying roughly $1,000 a year. Michael O'Hanlon, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute and a Visiting Lecturer at Princeton University, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Congo Kinshasa.
Michael O'Hanlon claims "soft partition" already occurring in Iraq
Analysis: Soft partition urged for Iraq
Published: July 9, 2007 at 12:36 PM
By LEANDER SCHAERLAECKENS
UPI Correspondent
WASHINGTON, July 9 (UPI) -- If the U.S. troop surge in Iraq fails to pay dividends, the only thing left to do is to break the country up into three autonomous regions, some experts now say.
The only way out of what is considered to be a full-fledged civil war is a "soft partition" that would split Iraq up into Kurdistan, "Shi'astan" and "Sunnistan" and to share oil-revenues, Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Edward Joseph, an Iraq veteran and scholar at the School of Advanced International Studies, said during a panel discussion in Washington Thursday.
O'Hanlon and Joseph said partition should only be considered as a final option if the surge doesn't work.
Although senior Iraqi officials have strongly opposed a partition and the Bush administration has no interest in it, O'Hanlon claims that it's already occurring.
"It is what's happening on the ground. Iraq is being torn apart; Iraq is being divided along sectarian lines whether most Iraqis want it or not. Al-Qaida strategy in that regard has been working," he said. "Iraq is being ethnically segregated. Ethnic cleansing is on its way, it's happening, and at least a couple million people have been displaced. It's becoming Bosnia in some ways.
"We would rather manage the process than have the death squads and the militias do the separation for us," O'Hanlon said.
"The United States cannot impose partition for Iraq. Only Iraqis can decide this," Joseph said. "Iraqis have already agreed to an extent. The constitution already contains the fundamental vision for a soft partition."
The plan would call for American troops to stay in Iraq for 12 to 18 months in order to help protect Iraqis relocating to their own sect's region. Although such a move would be voluntary, Joseph said the pressure of being a minority in a hostile neighborhood would eventually sway those who decide not to move.
Regional boundaries would have to be drawn, with outside help, to mediate any arguments over territory. Those who would have to be uprooted, estimated at 5 million by O'Hanlon and Joseph, would then have to be given assistance in building a new life. That would be done through a house-swapping scheme and a job-creation program, which should create 3 million jobs paying roughly $1,000 a year.
Oil would have to be divided between the three regions on a per capita basis, but this could cause some aggravation among Sunnis who believe that they make up about half of the country's population. The real number is closer to one-fifth, according to O'Hanlon. "Unless the Sunni Arabs feel that they are receiving a share of the oil that they think is fair, they will fight," he said.
Once the partition would be complete, mandatory ID cards would have to be implemented in order to lower terrorism by restricting access between regions. Subsequently, new institutions would have to be built in order to make each region completely autonomous, although, according to Joseph, "the partition will maintain the unity of the Iraqi state."
In order to do this, the Iraqi security forces, which the coalition has gone to great pains to create, would have to be dismantled. O'Hanlon envisions redistributing the forces among the regions by sect to give each its own security system, although he was not convinced it would work. "We're going to take our chances that Shiite police will do a passable job guarding Shiite neighborhoods. It's not going to be pretty," he said.
"I would prefer that the current inter-ethnic mode (of security forces) succeed, but it hasn't been working very well," he said.
O'Hanlon admitted that the chief beneficiary of this scheme would be the United States. "Without this kind of a soft partition concept we have very little hope of extricating our forces or any kind of regional stability to protect our interests," he said.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: July, 2007; RPCV Michael O'Hanlon (Congo Kinshasa); Figures; Peace Corps Congo Kinshasa; Directory of Congo Kinshasa RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Congo Kinshasa RPCVs; Iraq; Peace Corps Library; Peace Corps Countries of Service; Peace Corps Original Sources; Bulletin Board; Recent Peace Corps News
When this story was posted in July 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Dodd issues call for National Service Standing on the steps of the Nashua City Hall where JFK kicked off his campaign in 1960, Presidential Candidate Chris Dodd issued a call for National Service. "Like thousands of others, I heard President Kennedy's words and a short time later joined the Peace Corps." Dodd said his goal is to see 40 million people volunteering in some form or another by 2020. "We have an appetite for service. We like to be asked to roll up our sleeves and make a contribution," he said. "We haven't been asked in a long time." |
| Public diplomacy rests on sound public policy When President Kennedy spoke of "a long twilight struggle," and challenged the country to "ask not," he signaled that the Cold War was the challenge and framework defining US foreign policy. The current challenge is not a struggle against a totalitarian foe. It is not a battle against an enemy called "Islamofascism." From these false assumptions flow false choices, including the false choice between law enforcement and war. Instead, law enforcement and military force both must be essential instruments, along with diplomacy, including public diplomacy. But public diplomacy rests on policy, and to begin with, the policy must be sound. Read more. |
| Ambassador revokes clearance for PC Director A post made on PCOL from volunteers in Tanzania alleges that Ambassador Retzer has acted improperly in revoking the country clearance of Country Director Christine Djondo. A statement from Peace Corps' Press Office says that the Peace Corps strongly disagrees with the ambassador’s decision. On June 8 the White House announced that Retzer is being replaced as Ambassador. Latest: Senator Dodd has placed a hold on Mark Green's nomination to be Ambassador to Tanzania. |
| Peace Corps Funnies A PCV writing home? Our editor hard at work? Take a look at our Peace Corps Funnies and Peace Corps Cartoons and see why Peace Corps Volunteers say that sometimes a touch of levity can be one of the best ways of dealing with frustrations in the field. Read what RPCVs say about the lighter side of life in the Peace Corps and see why irreverent observations can often contain more than a grain of truth. We'll supply the photos. You supply the captions. |
| PCOL serves half million PCOL's readership for April exceeded 525,000 visitors - a 50% increase over last year. This year also saw the advent of a new web site: Peace Corps News that together with the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps serve 17,000 RPCVs, Staff, and Friends of the Peace Corps every day. Thanks for making PCOL your source of news for the Peace Corps community. Read more. |
| Suspect confesses in murder of PCV Search parties in the Philippines discovered the body of Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell near Barangay Batad, Banaue town on April 17. Director Tschetter expressed his sorrow at learning the news. “Julia was a proud member of the Peace Corps family, and she contributed greatly to the lives of Filipino citizens in Donsol, Sorsogon, where she served,” he said. Latest: Suspect Juan Duntugan admits to killing Campbell. Leave your thoughts and condolences . |
| Warren Wiggins: Architect of the Peace Corps Warren Wiggins, who died at 84 on April 13, became one of the architects of the Peace Corps in 1961 when his paper, "A Towering Task," landed in the lap of Sargent Shriver, just as Shriver was trying to figure out how to turn the Peace Corps into a working federal department. Shriver was electrified by the treatise, which urged the agency to act boldly. Read Mr. Wiggins' obituary and biography, take an opportunity to read the original document that shaped the Peace Corps' mission, and read John Coyne's special issue commemorating "A Towering Task." |
| Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace Corps Senator Chris Dodd (RPCV Dominican Republic) spoke at the ceremony for this year's Shriver Award and elaborated on issues he raised at Ron Tschetter's hearings. Dodd plans to introduce legislation that may include: setting aside a portion of Peace Corps' budget as seed money for demonstration projects and third goal activities (after adjusting the annual budget upward to accommodate the added expense), more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, removing medical, healthcare and tax impediments that discourage older volunteers, providing more transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, a more comprehensive health safety net for recently-returned volunteers, and authorizing volunteers to accept, under certain circumstances, private donations to support their development projects. He plans to circulate draft legislation for review to members of the Peace Corps community and welcomes RPCV comments. |
| He served with honor One year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor. |
| History of the Peace Corps PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help. |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: UPI
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Congo Kinshasa; Foreign Policy; Brookings Institute; Iraq
PCOL38086
27
By Anonymous (cpe-72-225-47-167.rochester.res.rr.com - 72.225.47.167) on Monday, April 14, 2008 - 10:53 pm: Edit Post |
It's good.