The Bush administration appears to be pursuing two policies in Iraq. One is not working, as demonstrated by the escalating violence in the country. The second might make a difference but is being undermined by the first. The first policy is the official one, pursued since March 2004. This policy is taking Iraq through a series of formal steps that, theoretically, will turn the country into a democratic state. The policy is simply not working. With every step, the Bush administration predicted that the political dynamics of Iraq would be altered, that people would rally behind the government and the insurgency would be isolated. None of the predictions has come true. The second policy, which the administration has been pursuing quietly and admits to only grudgingly in public, looks at the stabilisation of Iraq not as a process of formal democracy-building but as an attempt at peace negotiations. No matter to whom the US and the Iraqi government are talking, dialogue and negotiations are the right way to proceed. A conflict is not solved by holding elections but by talks and negotiations. Full Story
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