October 20, 2006
Split Iraq possible, says GOP hopeful
Senate candidate Mike McGavick raises the option as a last-ditch way to end the war.
By Jerry Cornfield
The Daily Herald
EVERETT - The U.S. should consider dividing Iraq among its major ethnic groups if it can be a catalyst for winning the war in that country, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike McGavick told The Herald editorial board Thursday.
McGavick made clear he is not advocating partition of Iraq be pursued as an immediate strategy but considers it an option for future consideration if the Iraqi government cannot get its act together.
"I don't want to go there," he said of partitioning. But a time may come where putting it forth as a strategy could prod Iraqis to assume responsibility for security and governance as has been sought by the United States.
McGavick's first public comments on partitioning Iraq came amid a discussion on his call to form a special bipartisan congressional panel to craft a new plan of action in Iraq.
"I'm tired of all the talk being about an exit strategy," he said. "We need to have a victory strategy."
When asked what ideas he would suggest if serving on that panel, he said partitioning Iraq into three separate and autonomous regions run by the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds, Iraq's primary ethnic and sectarian groups.
He said partitioning has been successful in establishing Bosnia and Herzegovina regions within the former republic of Yugoslavia.
President Bush rejected the idea of partitioning Iraq on Monday. His spokesman Tony Snow reiterated the point Thursday, calling any suggestion to divide Iraq into Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish regions a "nonstarter."
Partition is not expected to be included in the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel developing potential changes in U.S. approaches in Iraq. Its leader, former Secretary of State James Baker has said he opposes the idea at this time.
Nonetheless, partition is an idea on the minds of some senators.
For months, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the idea should be an option under discussion. This week a Republican from Bush's home state, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, expressed her openness to consider the value of breaking up Iraq.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, whom McGavick is trying to unseat, said she agreed with Biden's assessment when she heard him speak of it earlier this year.
"Early on, I said we should look at that issue," she said Thursday in Edmonds following a speech to the Snohomish County Economic Development Council.
It's not a step to be taken immediately, she said.
The focus now should continue to be trained on how to end the sectarian violence undermining set up of a credible Iraqi national government, she said.
A core problem is getting leaders of the three ethnic groups to agree on how oil revenues will be shared. Simply dividing the country into three won't resolve that dispute because the resource is not dispersed equally in the nation.
It will require negotiation, she said, and that's difficult when those living in the oil-rich areas - the Kurds and Shiites - also control a majority of seats in the Parliament.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@ heraldnet.com.
