Shift coming in US policy on Iraq | csmonitor.com

Shift coming in US policy on Iraq | csmonitor.com: "Among many options under consideration, these are the ones most likely to see the light of day, judging from lawmakers, experts, and steps the White House is already taking:

• A new diplomatic push to engage all of Iraq's neighbors - including Iran and Syria - to stabilize the country and help pull it back from the brink of full-blown civil war.

• More insistence that the Iraq government make the decisions needed to help quell sectarian violence - including such things as combatant amnesty and the sharing of oil revenue.

• Reduction of US troop numbers over the next year to a level sustainable among both the American and Iraqi publics.

The US elections may have held up decisionmaking until now, some experts say. But now, they add, changes are not only possible, but unavoidable because of such forces as deteriorating conditions in Iraq,"