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no matter what the EU thinks of the US, it cannot, just as we cannot, allow the Mideast descend into a hell. GWB opened this can of worms with his Neocon idiots, but no one can allow it to just spill out on the counter top. So the EU will have a strong motivation to see some sort of stable government in Iraq, one which does not threaten a large portion of the world's oil supply. So, while it may take years (not decades, that's silly) to rebuild relations with "old Europe", the EU and Russia and the UN may well work with Kerry to stabilize Iraq. Let's detail a plan that has a chance...
1) Kerry goes hat in hand and humbly begs NATO and UN for help ( while back channel diplomats make the obvious "in your best interests" case)
2) We vastly increase the forces on the ground (to something like 300,000) and disband the chalabi led council
3) Use even MORE money (another 50 B) to hire every Iraqi that wants a job to work on rebuilding Iraq and remove US war profiteers.
4) The UN led interim government will set up elections in a year.
5) The armed forces go door to door and confiscate all weapons (BUT, to allow the Iraqis to save face, we buy them)
6) We tell them that after the elections, we (the US and the UN) will completely leave.
7) We leave at least one complete armored division with the Kurds for 2 to 3 years... until they are trained on the equipment, and then we leave them the tanks and guns and such... and tell them if they ever use it except in self defense, we will come back and blow up every tank and gun, right down to the last humvee.
8) We tell Sharon and Israel that they need to leave the west bank, negotiate a real settlement with the Palestinians and do something to create a complete contiguous state of Palistine... and then tell the Palestinians that if they don't accept the deal and keep sending terrorists (or freedom fighters) to Israel, then we are done with it and Sharon can do whatever he wants (it's a bluff, but we have to appear to be willing to do it).
And then we pray a lot.
And, hopefully, start working QUICKLY on a complete hydrogen based economy (like the Apollo program).
And, while I may not live in Europe, I have a lot of business associates in Europe, Australia, and China... and they are not ready to throw in the towel on the United States just yet (although they are mighty disappointed in *)
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