'Just World News' with Helena Cobban

Obama and Maliki, face to face

They met today in the Green Zone.

That Reuters report has no further details. But it notes that Obama,

has also welcomed a suggestion by Maliki that a timetable be set for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.

So now, the US is in a particularly 21st-century kind of situation in Iraq. Not only is our government able to influence Iraqi politics, but the Iraqi government understands that it can influence ours. And equally importantly, beyond the realms of government, non-governmental individuals and citizen groups in each country have a voice in the global discourse and can communicate with each other as well as with their own governments. (As I noted, e.g., here.)

Governments can no longer monopolize border-crossing discussions of border-crossing issues.

Memo to George W. Bush and all other military adventurists: We are no longer in the 19th century! No nation, western or other, can any longer undertake military adventures outside its own borders and count on covering up the huge human and other costs of that adventure!

Deal with it. Start treating the Iraqis and all their neighbors as equal humans, equal nations, and start the negotiations required to exit the Iraqi sinkhole in a safe and sustainable manner as soon as possible.