Presidential candidate and hilarious ad-man Bill Richardson has frequently criticized Democratic frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for being willing to leave a “residual” force in Iraq after the main pullout of American troops is over. Richardson says he would never support such a thing. “No airbases, no troops in the Green Zone, no embedded soldiers training Iraqi forces — because we all know what that means — it means our troops will still be out on patrol, with targets on their back.”
But here’s where it get interesting — Richardson would leave some troops behind: “An all-Muslim peacekeeping force.” I’ve never heard that before, but it could be interesting. I wonder if the Muslim peacekeepers would come from the region or from America. I also wonder if this idea has been seriously debated and fleshed out in think tanks and other places, or if Richardson is just pulling it out of thin air to gain a bit of publicity. Either way, interesting brain candy.
Update: An all-Muslim peacekeeping force has been considered before. Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf proposed it in May. Minus points for cribbing from a dictator, plus points for being open to ideas from around the world.
