Kerry is in an impossible position on Iraq. He is supposed to have a position on what to do, but this is a/grossly unfair as he didn't create the horrific mess and any reasonable position has to look pretty awful; and b/he's not going to be president until January 2005 and who the hell knows what Iraq will look like then. So I think he's right to spout vague platitudes about internationalization. I quite frankly don't know what I'd recommend Kerry do if he were to miraculously become president tomorrow.
But I've been thinking. What would I do if, god forbid, I were Bush? or, more to the point, Cheney? That is if I thought like them, what would I recommend they do to salvage the situation. I think the only policy available to them is to go back to their original plan A: hand the country over to Ahmed Chalabi. Take two to three weeks to put down this revolt and get temporary stability. Bring together Chalabi, the Kurds Talabani and Barzuni, the Islamists Al-Hakim and the head of Al-Dawaa, and a Sistani representative; and then make the deal: the Kurds get full autonomy and Kirkuk in exchange for delivering the Kurdish region and policing Kirkuk. The Islamists get Islamic law but not clerical rule for joining the government. Chalabi gets to be PM. You add two token Sunnis and you have a government.
You give them sovereignty as soon as possible, you pour all 18 billion into creating an army, a police force, a Savak, and restoring the oil industry (so it can finance the repression after we leave), and you let Chalabi do all the killing, arresting, and recruiting of informers. And by mid-2005 you get the hell out. That's what I'd do if I were George Bush, or rather Dick Cheney, but - gott sei dank - I'm not...