Daniel Pipes, a man with expert knowledge of the Middle East and things Islamic, who thinks independently and courageously, offers his own blueprint on how the U.S. should proceed in Iraq. His ideas seem unique to me; at least I've not run into anything anywhere else quite like them. I especially like the idea of not building the planned mammoth American Embassy in Baghdad. Though not, perhaps, as major as many other ideas he presents, he still suggests
· Terminating the mammoth U.S. embassy in Baghdad: The American-created "Green Zone" in Baghdad is too high profile already, but work now underway to build the biggest embassy in the history of mankind, a 4,000-employee fortress in the heart of Baghdad, will make matters significantly worse. Its looming centrality will antagonize Iraqis for years or decades to come, even as it offers a vulnerable target for rocket-wielding enemies. Scheduled to open in June 2007, this gargantuan complex should be handed back to Iraqis, the over US$1 billion spent on it written off as a mistake of war, and a new, normal-sized, embassy built in its stead.