Luttwak: Let the Iraqis fight it out

Posted By David Bosco Tuesday, February 6, 2007 - 4:29 PM Share

STR/AFP

Edward Luttwak has a bracingly direct take on Iraq in today's New York Times (he's also recently made the case here and here). His suggestion? Let the Iraqis fight it out. The ongoing ethnic cleansing and self-segregation of the population is, in his view, a sign of progress.

One reason for optimism...is that the violence itself has been separating previously mixed populations, reducing motives and opportunities for further attacks. That is how civil wars can burn themselves out.

Readers unfamiliar with Luttwak's oeuvre may take his advice as further evidence of the dire situation in Iraq. And the situation is dire, of course. But Luttwak has been peddling the "let them kill each other" line for many years now— there's nothing special about Iraq. Here he is, for example, telling us to let the Balkans burn. I'm glad we didn't listen then, and I hope we don't now.

EXPLORE:MIDDLE EAST, IRAQ

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