Juan Cole at his blog, Informed Comment, highlighted an article, “For the first time, a real blueprint for peace in Iraq”, which appeared in the Independent newspaper from the UK on Jan. 5th.

In it a former defense minister from Iraq, Ali Allawi, lays out his view of what’s occurred in Iraq and with Iraq’s neighbors and identifies the challenges that exist because of those occurrences. He then sets forth a blueprint for the future, noting, “It requires genuine vision and statesmanship to pull the Middle East from its death spiral. The elements of a possible solution are there if the will exists to postulate an alternative to the politics of fear, bigotry and hatred.”

He continues:

The first step must be the recognition that the solution to the Iraq crisis must be generated first internally, and then, importantly, at the regional level. The two are linked and the successful resolution of one would lead to the other…No foreign power, no matter how benevolent, should be allowed to dictate the terms of a possible historic and stable settlement in the Middle East.

Secondly, the basis of a settlement must take into account the fact that the forces that have been unleashed by the invasion of Iraq must be acknowledged and accommodated. These forces, in turn, must accept limits to their demands and claims. That would apply, in particular, to the Shias and the Kurds, the two communities who have been seen to have gained from the invasion of Iraq.

Thirdly, the Sunni Arab community must become convinced that its loss of undivided power will not lead to marginalisation and discrimination. A mechanism must be found to allow the Sunni Arabs to monitor and regulate and, if need be, correct, any signs of discrimination that may emerge in the new Iraqi state.

Fourthly, the existing states surrounding Iraq feel deeply threatened by the changes there. That needs to be recognised and treated in any lasting deal for Iraq and the area…It is far better that these countries are seen to be part of a stable order for the area rather than as outsiders who need to be confronted and challenged.

The Iraqi government that has arisen as a result of the admittedly flawed political process must be accepted as a sovereign and responsible government. No settlement can possibly succeed if its starting point is the illegitimacy of the Iraqi government or one that considers it expendable.

<!-more-> Mr. Allawi makes a number of points which will sound familiar to those who have read and heard JK speak about the future of Iraq and the Middle East. As Juan Cole goes onto note, “Mr. Allawi’s plan was widely hailed by politicians and by journalists and analysts in Britain, but in the insular US it has barely gotten a hearing.” Leaving aside Mr. Cole’s acerbity, it is worth some time reading Mr. Allawi’s proposal and reading about its acceptance by others.