London Times is reporting that the Iraqi government has an "October surprise in June": a proposal to induce insurgent groups to lay down their arms, that would involve amnesty for actions against "foreign troops", withdrawal of coalition forces. This deal seems to have been put together with the involvement of US ambassador to Iraq Khalilzad.
The Government will promise a finite, UN-approved timeline for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq; a halt to US operations against insurgent strongholds; an end to human rights violations, including those by coalition troops; and compensation for victims of attacks by terrorists or Iraqi and coalition forces.
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It will pledge to take action against Shia militias and death squads. It will also offer to review the process of "de-Baathification" and financial compensation for the thousands of Sunnis who were purged from senior jobs in the Armed Forces and Civil Service after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
The deal, which has been seen by The Times, aims to divide Iraqi insurgents from foreign fighters linked to al-Qaeda. It builds on months of secret talks involving Jalal al-Talabani, the Iraqi President, Zalmay Khalilzad, the US Ambassador, and seven Sunni insurgent groups.
Read the rest of the story. Dick Cheney may object, but this really holds Bush's feet to the fire. He may have to choose between the Shooter and reality. The idea of the UN mediating this agreement would appear to be a dealbreaker, and I seriously doubt that Bush would give up the bases. In the end, this will undoubtedly stall out, sabotaged by the neocons. There will undoubtedly be mistrust over issues of "you first...no, YOU first..." and it may well be too late to establish trust between sectarian groups....But certainly I would think that at last we are seeing some serious "get the fuck out of our country" talk from the Iraqis. If Bush derails this, Khalilzad would probably want to "spend more time with his family," and the US and the world should be able to see clearly that there will be no solution in Iraq as long as the neocons hold the US in their demented grasp.