A modest exit strategy

Also from Sobaka. Iraq exit strategy. Curiously, I heard something similar to this last year from a former American diplomat in Iraq.

One possible exit strategy did occur to me. It's Machiavellian, but it's good. Well, good from an evil standpoint...

Here goes. Put Saddam Hussein back in charge. Stipulate that his bodyguards all be CIA handlers and the CIA appoints staff throughout his administration. The CIA agents will be loyal first to the agency, so if they're ordered to cooperate with Saddam, they'll have no moral quandry to deal with. They'll carry out orders. Meanwhile, Saddam gets back to business. He's got contacts and, more importantly, ruthlessness. Give him a few attack choppers and he'll have the place back to quiet desperation before you can say "First Gulf War". Remember that one?

All but 3 provinces of Iraq rebelled at the end of the 1991 war, and Hussein came back from a 28-point deficit to win the whole thing, 38-35 in the fourth quarter. (For those of you unfamiliar with American Football analogies, I'll say Hussein hit the rebels for six to win the test. He scored a hat trick in the final minutes of play. He grabbed the goat's bladder and killed the leaders of the other Buz Kashi side to win. Maybe that Buz Kashi analogy is most appropriate...) Hussein can get things back under control. He's done it before, he can do it again if given the chance. If the US penetrates his organization with his permission, the gas will flow, Iran will have an enemy, and the US can get back to its core competency: supporting ruthless dictators who do things the American Way.

Hey, Hussein even looks like Stalin. What more could a nation desperate for stability ask for?