(From A Recent Presentation for CSIS Aug 9, 2007) http://www.csis.org

Q: Thom Shanker from the Times. Tony, thanks for a very and expectedly

thought-provoking discussion. I was reluctant earlier to return to political reconciliation,

but since flogging a dead horse is our city’s national sport, I will flog away, with your

permission.

When you talk about the failure at reconciliation, did you see any evidence that

this is a real failure, as opposed to the successful implementation of the policy? Did you

see any evidence that the three factions in Iraq share a desired end state and that that

desired end state is anywhere close to our desired end state, and if not, isn’t the mission

already over?

DR. CORDESMAN: I think when you talk to people in the parties, yes, they do

share a view of the end state. The problem is obviously in the details, the lines, money,

all of these issues. When you look at the draft legislation, they’re working, not things we

(?) propose. You can see, if you have time, the potential outlines of a compromise people

could live with.

This is not, however, our set of values.

One of the points that I keep making to people in the administration is, this is

fundamentally, more than anything else, first about oil money and oil resources. It is

second about political power and role in the security forces. It is third about what level of

power you have in the provinces or whatever federal areas you have.

It isn’t some exercise in democracy. It isn’t a fascination with the rule of law. It

isn’t a mad desire to complete a constitution. This is a real world effort to actually make

a deal people can live with in very basic terms, and that may be one of the most important

things for Americans in general to understand. You’ve got more than 27 million people

at risk. This is not an exercise in political theor