Guardian:Iraq mayhem launches hunt for exit strategy in US and UK

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Foreign Office urges engagement with Syria and Iran as officials review options
Frantic efforts are under way in Washington and London to find an exit strategy for Iraq as a renewed surge in violence led George Bush to admit yesterday that tactics there might need to change.

Diplomats and politicians in both capitals are desperately reviewing and debating options that were once regarded as unthinkable.

The review was given added urgency yesterday when 800 gunmen, thought to be part of the Mahdi Army militia, ran amok in Amara, a town transferred by the British to Iraqi control only a month ago.

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The Foreign Office has ruled out an immediate unilateral British pull-out and partition. It basically favours a continuation of the present policy, but is agonising over whether to press for a timetable, possibly even a secret one, for withdrawal. "Every policy option I could lay out for you would be worse than what we are doing now," a British official said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1928039,00.html

[IndianaGreen]

1. They really have no clue how to get out of the jam they put themselves in

Civil war is raging in Iraq with competing militias fighting for power, while Bush and Blair are still stuck in their talking points.