The republican strategy for Iraq is to stay the course.
The democratic strategy for Iraq is to get out.
Neither of those methods is going to work, because the former is just agitating the whole region, and the latter would pull out without trying to ease any of the agitation.

In today's New York Times, there is a full-page ad on page nine, with a realistic strategy for peace in Iraq and security abroad and in the domestic U.S.

The plan is straightforward:
1. Repent of U.S. wrongdoing, and acknowledge all the damage done.
2. Be generous, diverting the war funds to go toward rebuilding Iraq as the Iraqi's would have it. A global Marshall Plan, diverting even just 1% of US GDP toward eliminating poverty worldwide.
3. Get the US troops (and US business interests) completely out, and replace them with a multi-nation peace-keeping force that is more diverse, including many Muslims and people of other faiths.

For more, go here, and read about it, view the ad, sign, and donate if you can.

Now, the real question is whether US leaders can have the chutzpah to make it happen. And whether the people of the US will hold them accountable ("If you want my vote, you are working to make this happen.")


chant/prayer/mantra: "peace, please."


pax hominibus,
joel