Dec 1, 8:22 PM (ET)
By ANNE GEARAN
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration is re-evaluating its efforts to unite Iraq's fractious sectarian and political factions in an attempt to preserve U.S. options in Iraq no matter what happens, officials familiar with an internal administration review of Iraq policy said Friday.
A senior U.S. official said that as part of that examination, the administration has debated whether to abandon U.S. efforts to bring Sunni insurgents into the political process to stabilize Iraq and instead leave that outreach to the majority Shiites and Iraq's third major group, the Kurds. No decision has been made. Some U.S. officials have argued that the outreach to Sunni dissidents has failed and may be alienating Shiites, who dominate the government and are the country's largest sect.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the debate, said senior State Department officials have countered that ending U.S. attempts to increase the Sunni stake in government would leave the root causes of the insurgency unaddressed. Opponents of the strategy say that it could also appear the United States is taking sides in Iraq's sectarian divide and could alienate close U.S. allies in the region.
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The administration also does not plan to alter its strategy of isolating adversaries Iran and Syria, despite mounting pressure to enlist those influential Middle East nations in a diplomatic push to stabilize Iraq, officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the internal review is still under way.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061202/D8LODAQO0.html