2 MORE PIPE UP ABOUT IRAQ

There's not much new here but it is interesting that the neo-con WaPo published this piece.

Steven Simon and Ray Takeyh are senior fellows at the Council on Foreign Relations.

We've Lost. Here's How To Handle It.
By Steven Simon and Ray Takeyh
Sunday, June 17, 2007; Page B01

Last week's bloodshed in Iraq and the bombing of what remained of the historic Shiite shrine in Samarra and of two Sunni mosques in Basra were more reminders of a terrible truth: The war in Iraq is lost. The only question that remains -- for our gallant troops and our blinkered policymakers -- is how to manage the inevitable.

Iraq has no credible central government that U.S. forces can assist and no national army for them to fight alongside. U.S. troops can't beat the insurgency on their own; our forces are too few and too isolated to compete with the insurgents for the public's support.

Some disasters are irretrievable, and this is one of them. Unless we admit that, we cannot begin the grueling work of salvage.

As for al-Qaeda: True, its Iraqi branch has established a stronghold in Anbar province, and trained fighters from Iraq are, predictably, returning to their home countries, hardened by combat and looking for blood. But thus far, the chief jihadist threat to the West continues to emanate from Pakistan, not Iraq. The proportion of foreign fighters in the insurgents' ranks is smaller than ever -- perhaps 10 percent of the total number of Sunni combatants. ... And beyond all that, it's simply too late to stop jihadist blowback from Iraq, which will persist regardless of whether U.S. forces remain.

The problem with trying to build democracy in the Arab world is not solely that Islamic radical groups such as Hamas tend to win the elections; it's also the absence of secular, liberal parties or politicians who support U.S. policies.