Offer an amnesty to the insurgents in Iraq ?

This thread stems from my comments which can be found here .

Personally my opinion hasn't changed I still think that the war in Iraq has to be won militarily but I still wanted to put the idea of an amnesty out there for discussion. Even thou the idea of an amnesty goes against my every opinion in the interests of being open minded I think that it is worth while examining the idea fuhrer(SP?).
An offer of a amnesty is something the Iraqi government could as an attempted to try heal the country deep divisions. Having said that I don't think that an amnesty would solve any of Iraq's problems.

The Iraqi government could offer an 90 day amnesty that is either no questions asked or in exchange for intel about the where abouts of there leaders. I'm afraid that I just cant even mention the idea of the leaders of the insurgency taking advantage of an amnesty.

What would the result be of such an offer ?
The smartest insurgent leaders and groups would take advantage of such an offer to infiltrate the Iraqi government or the local security forces. They could also lie low until coalition forces have left the country before unleashing waves of bloodshed. I just cant see any the extremists in Iraq having any genuine interest in taking part in the political process.

Should the insurgents lay down there arms for long enough the Iraqi government could claim to have made political progress and the coalition would have the out there looking for. I would only consider supporting such an offer if the war had been won militarily and Iraq as country needed to move forward.

reply to post by xpert11


How about coalition troops are offered an amnesty of 90 days? In this period they are to leave the country unmolested by resistance forces? Just an idea

If the war had been won militarily then coaliton troops wouldn't be dying every day, bombs wouldn't be going off and executions of people in the street wouldn't be happening. Come on

Originally posted by Peruvianmonk
How about coalition troops are offered an amnesty of 90 days? In this period they are to leave the country unmolested by resistance forces? Just an idea

That would achieve pretty much nothing which is even less then offering the insurgents an amnesty would achieve. Even if it is possible to withdraw coalition troops and equipment in that time frame your still leaving the locals in the hands of the enemy. In the context of your argument a better plan would be to offer the amnesty to the insurgents and if they is a large up take on the offer set a date for the withdrawl of coalition forces after the amnesty has ended.

This would give the people living in southern and central Iraq the most time to get the hell out of there.

If the war had been won militarily then coaliton troops wouldn't be dying every day, bombs wouldn't be going off and executions of people in the street wouldn't be happening. Come on

First of all counter insurgency warfare is typically fought over a period of years and that is without incompetent civilian and military leaders letting the security situation get out of control. You are right to a degree the coalition doesn't have enough manpower to win the war military .

Any amnesty would be like what the Pairs Peace Accords were to the Vietnam War the US way out and an agreement the enemy has no intention of honouring.

[edit on 30-8-2007 by xpert11]

I think WE should leave THEIR country!The Iraq goverment is a travesty,a dispicable free loading bunch of liars who wouldnt last out side the green zone.

Giving us an amnesty to leave would be far more fitting rather than expecting the real Iraqi's to bend over and take it for ever


For the record the war never ended,it was stage mannered with the media to end on Saddams statue being pulled down by(cough)local people

The trouble is to get there the mighty american war machine bypassed all the major hotspots of towns,cities and villages to get to the capital and reach their target audience sat infront of the idiot box at tea time

Those cities and towns are still there and their keeping the war going,the only way to win this is to kill them all-and thats something we cant do

but there you go thats what goes down when you illegaly invade a county and expect the locals to throw flowers at you!There doing exactly the same thing we would do if family members or friends where killed by an invading country!

good thread mate

Originally posted by Peruvianmonk

How about coalition troops are offered an amnesty of 90 days? In this period they are to leave the country unmolested by resistance forces? Just an idea

If the war had been won militarily then coaliton troops wouldn't be dying every day, bombs wouldn't be going off and executions of people in the street wouldn't be happening. Come on

I believe they done that already. They promised American troops that surrenders as well as give up the equipment that they will not die in pain when they are executed. No beheadings or maiming. Just head shot.