US scholars propose a divided Iraq

press tv
Thu, 05 Jul 2007 10:51:43

With US war policy clouded by failures, two American scholars have proposed a partition plan that would divide Iraq into three main regions.

The authors, Edward P. Joseph of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and Michael O'Hanlon, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, are hoping to draw the attention of George W. Bush administration policymakers.

The three main spheres proposed in the report would be Shia, Sunni and Kurdistan. Iraqi Kurds already control Kurdistan.

The scholars are circulating their suggestions within the Bush administration, AP reported.

Sen. Joseph Biden, who is a Democratic presidential candidate and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has sought for months to attract support for a partition plan he formulated with Leslie Gelb, former head of the private Council on Foreign Relations.

It would establish a federal system of government in Iraq.

The idea has gained some attention in Congress but has not been embraced by the Bush administration.

"The time may be approaching when the only hope for a more stable Iraq is a soft partition of the country,'' the report by Joseph and O'Hanlon said.