Brzezinski: US must admit Iraq is moral calamity
Iraq-USA, Politics, 2/4/2007

It is time for The White House to come to terms the war in Iraq is a "historic, strategic and moral calamity," according to US former national security adviser to the Carter administration, Zbigniew Brzezinski.

The US must also recognize that "only a strategy that is historically relevant rather than reminiscent of colonial tutelage can provide the framework for a tolerable resolution of both the war and intensifying regional tensions," he added.

"If the US stays bogged down in Iraq, the final destination on this downhill track is likely to be head-on conflict with Iran and with the broader world of Islam," he warned in an article for the Financial Times Friday.

The former security adviser, who served in the White House during the 1979 Islamic Revolution, warned back in December that the US must start a dialogue with Iran, saying that there was much more at stake for Washington in the Middle East than Iraq.

"It is obvious by now that the US national interest calls for a significant change of direction. There is a consensus in favour of change: US public opinion now holds that the war was a mistake," he said in his latest article.

Brzezinski proposed that the quest for a political solution to the growing chaos in Iraq should involve four steps, starting with the US reaffirming "unambiguously its determination to leave Iraq in a reasonably short period of time." "Such a declaration is needed to allay fears in the Middle East of a new and enduring American imperial hegemony. That perception should be discredited at the highest level, perhaps by a joint resolution in the Congress." His other recommendations included the need for the US to undertake talks with all Iraqi leaders, inviting all its neighbours to engage in dialogue about how to enhance stability and concurrently activating a credible Middle East peace effort.

The former national security adviser referred to the US pursuing a long-term strategy of uniting its friends and dividing its enemies, while soberly deterring aggression without initiating hostilities after World War Two.

"Today, America's global leadership is being tested in the Middle East. A similarly wise strategy of genuinely constructive engagement is now urgently needed. It is time for the Congress to assert itself," he said.

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