Now he is so clueless about how to end the suicide bombing of civilians (so am I) that he openly advocates esclation of the war:
If the Arab world, its media and its spiritual leaders, came out and forcefully and repeatedly condemned those who mount these suicide attacks, and if credible Sunnis were given their fair share in the Iraqi government, I am certain a lot of this suicide bombing would stop.... That is the only way it stops, because we don't know who is who. It takes the village - and right now the Sunni Arab village needs to be pressured and induced to restrain those among them who are engaging in these suicidal murders of innocents.
The logic is escalation: He can't handle Iraq, so he wants to handle the entire Sunni Arab world. Brilliant.
Now let's talk about history. Years ago, it was thought to be a great idea to house villagers in a special, strategic hamlet, separated from the terrorist guerillas and the jungle by barbed wire. (It's pressure.) Those willing to cooperate were given economic incentives: feed grains, jobs, etc. (Inducement) Of course, withdrawal was out of the question, and military operations were relentlessly prosecuted. (Another pressure.) The dateline is 1965-66.
Friedman reached those esclation years at last. A long way to go still.