Crack Iraq (If it works for the Kurds . . .)

If, as Peter Galbraith says, the Kurds already have a "de facto separation" in northern Iraq that "Arab Iraqis have largely accepted." And if the Shiites are largely in the south and the Sunnis are largely in the center of the country, [1] then why not keep going in this direction and split the battling Shiites and Sunnis into their own regions as well?

In Foreign Affairs, Leslie Gelb shows how this decentralization might work. In the same article, Stephen Biddle says that decentralization has been suggested in the past, but that the various parties have not been able to agree to the necessary compromises. [2]

But it seems like such a natural idea and the war has been going on for so long. And since it's already been successful for the Kurds who are "secure . . . increasingly prosperous" and don't have "significant coalition forces," [1] it seems like an idea worth pursuing some more, especially if prime minister Maliki's reconciliation plan doesn't work out. *

footnote
* Senator Joseph Biden, "the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee," also supports decentralization [3].

sources
[1] The New York Times. Our Corner of Iraq. July 25, 2006.
[2] Foreign Affairs. What to Do in Iraq: A Roundtable. July/August 2006.
[3] The Washington Post. Iraqi Leader to Visit Bush; Talks to Focus on Violence. July 23, 2006.

posted: july 26, 2006, 1:38 AM ET
update: july 26, 2006, 4:44 PM ET