No one would confuse Morton Kondracke of Roll Call and Fox with an expert on Iraq. Nevertheless, his latest comments reveal a double ignorance, If the "surge" fails, he says, Bush needs to consider "winning dirty" in Iraq by unleashing the Shiites and Kurds:

Winning will be dirty because it will allow the Shiite-dominated Iraqi military and some Shiite militias to decimate the Sunni insurgency. There likely will be ethnic cleansing, atrocities against civilians and massive refugee flows.

No one has publicly advocated this Plan B, and I know of only one Member of Congress who backs it — and he wants to stay anonymous. But he argues persuasively that it’s the best alternative available if Bush’s surge fails.

Not only is that a stupid idea, but it also describes almost perfectly what the United States is already doing, by arming and training Shiite-led militias, police and army units, while going after the Sunni resistance.