Should the sectarian violence be strictly viewed as an Iraqi problem...

[NNguyenMD]

with an Iraqi solution. And should it be considered as something that the US should pave the way in correcting before American troop withdrawal?

I do not support the war, but I think that we would all agree that the catalyst for the sectarian militia violence was the US invasion. Because the US does bear responsibility in this, should we feel an obligation to establish an effective political/military solution to decreasing the sectarian violence before considering troop withdrawal?

And I am fully aware that there are few viable solutions to fixing this, short of instituting a draft and sending a US force of 10 million conscripts to ensure some margin of order.

Curious to hear your thoughts.

[stillcool]

1. The problem is that the violence...

serves the occupiers far more than the occupied. The violence works nicely to put pressure on the Iraqi government to sign those damn oil contracts. If that does not get done, the government will not last anyway. When I consider the number of Private Security Companies operating in Iraq...at least 100,000 as of 12/06...and that is only U.S.Government contracts, I can not imagine how one could determine who is doing what to whom.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/04/AR2006120401311_pf.html

Iraqi oil law nears final stage
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press WriterWed Apr 18, 6:24 AM ET

Iraq's hotly debated draft oil law is to be sent to parliament "within the coming few days if everything goes well," the Oil Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.

"The draft is with the State Shura Council now to be put in a legal form after being written in technical language," Assem Jihad told The Associated Press in a phone interview. He gave no date for the bill's introduction.

"We are expecting to take no more than two months to discuss it inside the parliament ... between one and two months it depends on the parliament," Jihad added.

The Iraqi oil legislation, which was endorsed by the cabinet last February, will open the door for the government to sign contracts for exploration and production of the country's vast untapped reserves.

It was designed to create a fair distribution of oil profits to all Iraqis and it is perhaps the most important piece of legislation for Iraq's American patrons.

Passage of the law, thought to have been written with heavy U.S. involvement, is one of four benchmarks the Bush administration has set for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's struggling government.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070418/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_oil_law_2&printer=1;_ylt=AlDi2cCjcxHInfWMEK5kB.oUewgF

Top Iraqi Officials Arrive in Dubai to Discuss Draft Oil Law
by Oliver Klaus Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday, April 17, 2007
DUBAI, Apr 17, 2007 (Dow Jones News)

Iraqi officials and businessmen arrived in the United Arab Emirates Tuesday ahead of a meeting in Dubai on April 18 to discuss their country's controversial but crucial draft hydrocarbon law, intended to attract investments into the country's ailing energy sector.

The 85-strong Iraqi delegation is led by Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih and also comprises Planning Minister Ali Baban, Oil Minister Hussein Al Sharistani, former oil minister Thamir Ghadban and several other parliamentarians as well as Iraqi oil specialists and businessmen.

In Baghdad, Iraq's Oil Ministry spokesman, Assem Jihad, said the two-day meeting would be headed by Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi parliament Khaled al-Atayah, who stands for the parliament-majority Shiite Alliance.

The delegation will debate ways of moving forward the country's proposed hydrocarbons law, which has been bogged down by disagreement over whether Iraq, holder of the world's third largest oil reserves, should open up the oil and gas sectors to foreign investors.

Jihad said the seminar aims to note any comments raised by Iraqi oil experts prior to debating the law in parliament.

Several former Iraqi oil ministers and officials and veteran Iraqi oil experts, who have already fled the country's chaos but continue to hold some influence in Baghdad's politics and industry, urged the parliament to reject the draft law during a seminar they held in Amman last month. They feared that the new legislation would further divide the country already witnessing civil strife.
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The legislation in its current form fails to clarify issues critical for investment in the country, namely the terms for foreign oil companies' participation, and whether they would be allowed to take majority stakes in some Iraqi oil fields.

Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=43956

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. Do you feel an obligation...

to enlist and go to Iraq, in order to help establish an effective political/military solution to decreasing the sectarian violence before considering troop withdrawal?

[NNguyenMD]

3. well, I think that begs the question...is there a role for the US to reduce sectarian violence?

Or should this be viewed strictly as an Iraqi problem with an Iraqi solution.

Maybe a more important question is, "Is US troop withdrawal the solution to resolving sectarian violence?" and how is that so?

If you asking if I personally feel responsible for causing sectarian violence in Iraq because I am concerned about it, and thus enlist in a capacity to help solve it? Then the answer is no.

Bush caused this to happen, and thus he and the GOP cabal should face the responsibilities for cleaning up this mess, not people concerned about violence being committed against Iraqis.