The next few days will be a big test of whether the political class on both sides of the Atlantic can think about the reality of Iraq. Too often, the war is debated as if it is 2003 and we can still choose whether or not to invade. As this sobering George Packer essay in the New Yorker makes clear there are now no simple or easy solutions to the Iraq crisis. As he puts it, “We might want to be rid of Iraq, but Iraq won’t let it happen.”
Given the situation on the ground today, the best course of action is to keep on with the surge. The numbers in today’s BBC poll of Iraqis show just how much work there is still to do. But there does not seem to be a better option than the surge. A phased withdrawal would leave the Coalition betwixt and between, unable to make a decisive impact on the ground but still a target.
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