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Iraq

Baker: No 'magic bullet' for Iraq

2006-10-21

Former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker has warned not to expect a special Iraq panel he co-chairs to come up with a "magic bullet" to solve deepening problems in that country. He said the bipartisan Iraq Study Group appointed by the U.S. Congress to look at alternatives to current policy in Iraq had not decided what to recommend, but he suggested there was no easy way out of the violent conflict.

"I will say one other thing -- there's no magic bullet for the situation in Iraq. It is very, very difficult," Baker said on Tuesday in a speech to the World Affairs Council of Houston. "So anybody who thinks that somehow we're going to come up with something that is going to totally solve the problem is engaging in wishful thinking," he said.

I'm afraid the time for the "magic bullet" has passed. An intel-driven killing campaign against the terrorist infrastructure would do it, but some of the main targets are part of the Iraqi government, to which we're deferring for the moment. To begin implementing the (literal) magic bullets, we'd have to ignore half the government and assassinate the other half. But that would deal with the problem sufficiently to have it cleared up in a year.

Posted by:Fred

#12 Actually, there is a "magic bullet". Only, it's slightly larger and requires aerial delivery.

Start with one delivered to every MME (Muslim Middle East) capital city and then inquire as to who still wants to continue this jihad bullshit. Any takers zoom to the top of the Christmas list for round two.

Posted by: Zenster 2006-10-21 22:42

#11 It will be interesting to see if this group says that the problems in Iraq are being heavily fomented by Iran.

Posted by: lotp 2006-10-21 19:46

#10 Baker is cofounder of Baker Botts, an impressive law firm in TX. The firm is big on, you guessed it, oil company clients.

Baker is politically savy and sharp, despite his advanced age. But I wouldn't hang the eventual findings from the Iraq Study Group on Baker. The group has a strong composition.

Moreover, Baker and everyone else on the ISG know that President Bush is the CIC. They can recommend but President Bush makes the call.

Posted by: Captain America 2006-10-21 19:43

#9 Jim Baker is one hell of an attorney, if i could afford his prices I'd hire hit men instead.

Posted by: RD 2006-10-21 15:35

#8 Baker is 76.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baker

Posted by: Darrell 2006-10-21 10:22

#7 I'm sure Baker will come up with something acceptable to his Saudi masters

Posted by: Frank G 2006-10-21 10:08

#6 Amen, DanNY, amen.

Posted by: .com 2006-10-21 09:29

#5 Whacking Iran would go a very long way in solving the problem.

Posted by: DanNY 2006-10-21 06:48

#4 If it comes to splitting the country i hope the Kurds get a homeland.

But that will mean Turkey may invade.

Also, Iran may invade.

That may provoke the Saudis to defend the Sunni minority. We are in the swamp now but I don't think instability in the region is necessarily a bad thing and perhaps we do need a mother of all regional wars there to sort this stuff out once and for all

Posted by: anon1 2006-10-21 01:24

#3 No magic bullet, no grassy knoll?

Posted by: Captain America 2006-10-21 01:03

#2 STRATEGYPAGE.com > article = UNO estimates up to 1.6Milyuuhn Iraqis, mostly SUNNI, have fled Iraq since 2003, while 00,000's of Shias, etal. have returned to Iraq. The Shias and anti-Saddamists are engaged in violent bloody revenge for what Saddam did to them. * IS EXCLUSIVE OF RADICAL IRAN'S REGIONAL AMBITIONS. Other articles - covert Iranian INTEL-espionage networks + "sleeper cells" have been discovered in BAHRAIN + KUWAIT, etc.

Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-10-21 00:26

#1 How old is Baker?

Posted by: 3dc 2006-10-21 00:11

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