From one of my favorites

No, No, No ...

By Joshua Holland (gadflyer.com) link

Nice to see Joe Biden call for a timetable for getting out of Iraq. Unfortunately, he adopts the logically inconsistent proposition that our exit should be drawn out over the next two years. But given that Biden has called for sending more troops in the past, it's definitely a sign of progress.

But at the same time, Joe shows how consistently ignorant our foreign policy elites are of the situation in which we find ourselves with this:

"First, we need to build political consensus, starting with the constitution. Sunnis must accept that they no longer rule Iraq. But unless Shiites and Kurds give them a stake in the new deal, they will continue to resist. We must help produce a constitution that will unite Iraq, not divide it. Iraq's neighbors and the international community have a huge stake in the country's future. The president should initiate a regional strategy -- as he did in Afghanistan -- to leverage the influence of neighboring countries. And he should establish a Contact Group of the world's major powers -- as we did in the Balkans -- to become the Iraqi government's primary international interlocutor."

"We, we, we." No, Joe, if we initiate a regional strategy, it will lack legitimacy. The more we are seen to have produced the Iraqi constitution, the less legitimate it will be and the less likely it will be to unite anybody.

Enough with this Manifest Destiny crap, folks. Iraq needs regional help and a constitution that might foster national reconciliation. Those are both tall orders at this point, regardless of who is taking the lead. But the best chance those difficult goals have is for the U.S.-- reviled as aggressors throughout the region -- to get out of the way.