The Arab League solution

"PRESIDENT BUSH seems not to have noticed, but what stands between hostile sectarian forces and the resumption of all-out civil war in Lebanon is the Arab League, whose diplomacy 17 years ago put an end to a conflict in which tens of thousands of Lebanese died. Is there not a lesson here, for the president and the Democratic Congress, that is applicable to Iraq?
. . . The Arab League’s Baghdad offices are recognized by the Shiite government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, has strongly supported Iraq’s involvement with the Arab League. Amr Moussa, the Arab League’s secretary general, has had an open door not just to Iraqi officials but also to Moktada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite leader, and to Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country’s most powerful cleric, who has never received an American official. The Iraqi foreign minister, a Kurd, has participated regularly in Arab League meetings.
To be sure, the Arab League cannot offer miracles. . . . But with an invitation from the American president, it could immediately get to work at mediating the conflict."

Op-ed by Milton Viorst

source
Viorst, Milton. (The New York Times). January 30, 2007. A League of Their Own.

posted: thursday, february 1, 2007, 3:22 AM ET

tags: iraq milton viorst arab league