Sunni Iraqis offer an exit plan

[MattSWin]

For increasing numbers of Americans, Plan B is to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. Although most Democratic Party leaders have opposed a troop pullout, saying it would leave Iraq in chaos, public support for a withdrawal has grown -- and has received a special boost from Cindy Sheehan's vigil outside President Bush's ranch in Texas.

Surprisingly, however, the Iraqis who might be expected to support such a pullout -- those close to the Sunni Arab militants themselves -- say the focus on a quick exit is misplaced.

"It's impossible for them or us to fix an exact schedule" for troop withdrawal, said Isam al-Rawi, a leader of the Muslim Scholars Association, a group of 3,000 Sunni clerics. "That is not the important thing right now. There are other steps that are much more necessary to calm the situation."

Largely unnoticed amid the U.S. political debate, al-Rawi and other Sunni leaders close to the insurgency have reached tacit consensus over the broad outline of an interim program to reduce the violence, stabilize the country and thus enable the U.S.-led coalition troops to begin a gradual withdrawal. While differences remain on some points, there is wide agreement on these steps:

-- A troop pullout from most urban areas and an end to military checkpoints and raids. "The Americans and British must leave all residential areas," said al-Rawi. "This is very sensitive for our feelings. When they retreat to military bases outside the major cities, the Iraqis will no longer be meeting military tanks and trucks in the streets and highways, and they will no longer be afraid their home will be invaded at night."

-- Overhaul of the Iraqi Army and National Guard. Although the White House and Democrats alike say they want to turn over security duties to the Iraqi Army and National Guard as soon as possible, Sunni Arabs point out that these two institutions are almost completely composed of members of their ethnic enemies -- the Kurdish peshmerga and the Shiite militias. "These people want to humiliate the Sunni," al-Hashimi said. "The Army and National Guard must be professionalized. They cannot be dominated by members of the party militias."

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/08/21/INGQEEA80E1.DTL&type=printable

[tives12]

1. Somebody has the right idea.