● IRAQI LIFE

A realistic goal in Iraq: Contain the mess

The war in Iraq will haunt the Bush administration, the new Congress and us all in 2007. President Bush has been reviewing Iraq options; the time he?s taking indicates the grimness of the choices. Many readers have asked me what I think should be done, so here are my thoughts. We must clarify our purpose in Iraq. President Bush says, «Our goal remains a free and democratic Iraq that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself and is an ally in the war on terror.» This premise assumes we are dealing with a unified country with a viable government. Both assumptions are false. In reality, our only plausible goal is to contain the mess we?ve made.Iraq is convulsed by a brutal civil war between Shiite and Sunni Muslims (with ethnic Kurds mostly on the sidelines). Its central government is weak; Iraqi security forces are also split by religion and sect. Even as the president plans, sectarian militias are changing Iraq?s makeup. In Baghdad, and other cities, hard-line Shiite and Sunni militias are driving out all members of whichever sect is the minority in their respective areas. Even as White House officials discuss the formation of a new, moderate, multisectarian political bloc in Baghdad that would isolate both Shiite and Sunni radicals, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is rejecting the strategy. Despite a recent visit to the White House, Maliki won?t isolate the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi militia. Nor does the prime minister seem capable of pursuing reconciliation with moderate Sunnis.So, as civil war continues, what can we do to contain the mess? The option Bush supposedly favors would call for a temporary surge of 15,000 to 20,000 US. troops to Baghdad. The goal would be to stabilize Sunni and mixed areas (and hope Maliki would then curb Sadr). The surge would follow classic counterinsurgency strategy: Clear and hold an insurgent area and follow with an infusion of US aid.

● THE TELEGRAPH

Bollywood sis to play in «Big Brother»

Judging from the early feedback, Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, who turned on the full glamour of the world?s biggest film industry when she walked into Celebrity Big Brother House about 9 pm last night, is proving to be quite a hit on Channel 4 television. She wore a sari, plenty of jewellery, did a namaste to the ranks of snappers and onlookers and tossed her glossy, well-shampooed and blow-dried Mumbai hair this way and that. Asian viewers throughout the UK appeared today to be glued to their sets, watching Shilpa get out of bed, go into the bathroom, do her face and her hair, bond with her fellow housemates, notably 1970s pop singer Leo Sayer, 58, wonder whether she should address Ken Russell, the 79-year-old legendary film director, as «uncle», and generally show off her statuesque figure ? but not as revealingly as Danielle Lloyd, 23, a beauty queen who had her Miss Great Britain title taken away because she got a little too close to one of the judges. A typical comment came from an Indian woman journalist in her early forties who gushed: «I felt so emotional when I saw Shilpa walk up last night ? she looked stunning (which, to be fair, Shilpa did). I watched till 1 am last night and this morning my (elderly) mum has been watching. «We are so proud of Shilpa. I am glad she is keeping her Indian culture. She is wearing a long kurta with jeans. She has got a better figure than anybody else but she?s not flaunting it. We are worried she might be voted off. Channel 4 has, at last, done something right.»

● LIBÉRATION

Chirac ne vote pas encore Sarkozy

Un non ferme et définitif. Chirac n?adressera pas le moindre message de soutien et encore moins d?amitié à Sarkozy lors du congrès d?investiture du candidat de l?UMP à la présidentielle, le 14 janvier. Rien n?y a fait. Les émissaires, comme Raffarin, qui ont tenté de quémander une onction chiraquienne même symbolique ont vite compris qu?ils n?obtiendraient rien. «Pourquoi voulez-vous que le chef de l?Etat adoube le candidat d?un parti alors qu?il n?a toujours pas pris sa décision de se représenter ou pas», confiait, hier à l?Elysée, Maurice Ulrich, un de ses plus anciens conseillers, lors de la cérémonie des voeux aux «forces vives de la nation». A défaut d?un message, «on aura certainement une messagère, toujours la même...», tentait de se consoler en début de semaine un des hauts dirigeants de l?UMP. Raté. Car, pour l?heure, même Bernadette Chirac, familière des grand-messes UMP, a été priée par son mari de rester à l?Elysée le 14 janvier. En 2002 c?était il y a cent ans , une formation politique fondée par Chirac, baptisée Union pour une majorité présidentielle, avait l?ambition d?être le «grand parti du président».