Iraqi hidden agenda? / Partitioned Iraq darkly suggested by military briefing

"American military officers have also wondered . . . were the Iraqis not pulling their weight because they did not have the capability? . . . Or did the Iraqi authorities have a sectarian agenda?"

"As security efforts in Baghdad faltered, a confidential briefing on possible “end states” in Iraq was prepared by officials under the command of Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarielli, who until a few weeks ago led the day-to-day operations in Iraq. It suggested the dark vision of a divided nation that haunts the administration.
Unless the United States persuaded the Iraqi government to change course, those who prepared the briefing foresaw an Iraq run by a relatively weak central government, which would include a largely autonomous nine-province Shiite region in the south and a Shiite-dominated Baghdad. The Kurds would retain their autonomy in the north. The Sunnis would essentially be relegated to the western Anbar Province and other enclaves.
The briefing posed a question: was this an outcome the United States could live with? If so, what could the United States do to minimize the bloodshed? If not, what should be done to alter this course?"

source
The New York Times. Chaos Overran Iraq Plan in ’06, Bush Team Says. January 2, 2007.

posted: monday, january 8, 2007, 10:44 PM ET
update: monday, january 8, 2007, 10:56 PM ET

tags: iraq partition

Pentagon group is targeting Iraqi unemployment

"Members of a small Pentagon task force have gone to the most dangerous areas of Iraq over the past six months to bring life to nearly 200 state-owned factories abandoned by the Coalition Provisional Authority after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Their goal is to employ tens of thousands of Iraqis in coming months, part of a plan to reduce soaring unemployment and lessen the violence that has crippled progress.
Defense officials and military commanders say that festering unemployment -- at 70 percent in some areas -- is leading Iraqi men to take cash from insurgents to place bombs on roads or take shots at U.S. troops. Other Iraqis are joining sectarian attacks because their quality of life has slipped dramatically, officials say.
Army Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the top U.S. field commander in Iraq, said that tackling unemployment could do far more good than adding U.S. combat troops or more aggressively pursuing an elusive enemy."

source
The Washington Post. To Stem Iraqi Violence, U.S. Aims to Create Jobs. December 12, 2006.

posting: thursday, december 14, 2006, 4:00 PM ET