Iraq: Plan B (12/7)

The long awaited report of the Iraq Study Group is scheduled to be released Wednesday, and of course there have been leaks, and speculation about the commission's findings and recommendations. In addition, there have been numerous other plans proposed about what to do next in Iraq. So we decided to do a little speculating and proposing of our own, and we chose "Plan B: What Next in Iraq?" as the topic for this Thursday's IIF discussion.

As usual, I am sending along some background information:

Here are a couple of articles from The Washington Post, speculating about what the commission may recommend:

Study Group to Call for Pullback

Iraq Plan Strives To Bridge Divide

The Wall Street Journal published these two articles about some of the different plans being proposed, and who is supporting them:

Commentary: Plan B

Commentary: A Plethora of Plans About What's Next

Here is a Backgrounder from the Council on Foreign Relations that has links to a number of good articles:

'Plan B' Scenarios in Iraq

Senator Joseph Biden and Leslie Gelb, the president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, have proposed a plan for dividing Iraq into three ethnic federations. Here are the plan and some articles Biden and Gelb have written promoting it:

Biden-Gelb Plan for Iraq

Iraq: A Way Forward

Unity Through Autonomy in Iraq

A Plan to Hold Iraq Together

The Minimum Necessary

The Pentagon has also been considering several options for Iraq. Here are stories about those plans from The Washington Post, CBS, and The Washington Times:

Pentagon May Suggest Short-Term Buildup Leading to Iraq Exit

Pentagon Reviewing Three Plans for Iraq

Joint Chiefs oppose Iraq pullout

Study group to echo Bush

I have attached a transcript of a portion of Meet the Press from Sunday before last, in which Rep. Duncan Hunter, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, proposes yet another option.

And then we learned in just this past week that shortly before he resigned as Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld "submitted a classified memo to the White House that acknowledged that the Bush administration’s strategy in Iraq was not working and called for a major course correction." Here are Rumsfeld's memo and stories about it from The New York Times and The Washington Post:

Rumsfeld’s Memo of Options for Iraq War

Rumsfeld Memo Proposed ‘Major Adjustment’ in Iraq

Rumsfeld Called for Change in War Plan

Finally, from the July/August issue Foreign Affairs, here are a Roundtable on Iraq, featuring Stephen Biddle, Larry Diamond, James Dobbins, Leslie Gelb, and Chaim Kaufmann, and responses from Christopher Hitchens, Fred Kaplan, Kevin Drum, and Marc Lynch that the magazine posted on its website:

What to Do in Iraq: A Roundtable

Responses to "What to Do in Iraq"

So, keep an eye out for the release of the Iraq Survey Group's report Wednesday. It will in all likelihood be to long to read in its entirety before Thursday evening's discussion, but there will probably be an executive summary that will give us a good idea what they are recommending. Then come join us at Villa for our discussion, and will try to sort out what the report means and what its effect will be, and we will consider some of the other options that have been proposed. See you then.