Answer man

Iraq: Politicians may have plans for Iraq, but Middle East historian Bernard Lewis weighs in | Jill Nelson

He mastered the languages of "the East" to become the first Westerner granted access to Turkish archives. He predicted the storm brewing between "Christendom" and radical Islam, coining the phrase "clash of civilizations." Presidents and monarchs have sought the views of 90-year-old historian Bernard Lewis, and some claim he played a prominent role in inspiring the war in Iraq—a war he says should have been executed quite differently: "The entrance into Iraq was not ill conceived, but it was very poorly conducted," he told WORLD after a recent speaking engagement.

But for now the views of scholars and historians at this critical juncture are drowned out by months of deliberations and hype over what prescriptions for either a brilliant exit strategy or a magic cure to sectarian violence would come forth from the Iraq Study Group (ISG). On Dec. 6 it released its report and made public its recommendation: a stepped-up effort in U.S. training and advising of Iraqi police and military units; large-scale redeployments and a gradual reduction of forces from the current 140,000 to approximately half that amount (with no firm timetables); and a new phase of diplomatic initiatives in the region to engage other Middle East countries in stabilizing Iraq.