Three State Solution for Iraq

LESLIE H. GELB in the NYT proposes that one solution for Iraq may be to break up the country into 3 separate entities, a Kurdish north, a Shiite south, and a Sunni middle. The Sunnis would be left without the oil. Seems fitting.

Almost immediately, this would allow America to put most of its money and troops where they would do the most good quickly — with the Kurds and Shiites. The United States could extricate most of its forces from the so-called Sunni Triangle, north and west of Baghdad, largely freeing American forces from fighting a costly war they might not win. American officials could then wait for the troublesome and domineering Sunnis, without oil or oil revenues, to moderate their ambitions or suffer the consequences.