Spencer Ackerman has a thoughtful post on the UN's role in mediating the dispute over the status of Kirkuk, Mosul, and other territories contested by rival ethnic groups. A referendum on the status of some of these territories -- namely the oil-rich, majority Kurd city of Kirkuk -- has been delayed every year since 2003 because it is feared that the group which looses the referendum may resort to violence.

So, to forestall this violent shoe from dropping, the United Nations Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) has been quietly mediating talks between rival factions that would obviate the need for a referendum by finding some mutually agreed upon apportionment of territory. As Spencer notes, this is far from a perfect solution, but in a situation where all options are bad, this seems to be the least-worst.

this is exactly the sort of hard-case test for the U.N. that demonstrates its value. UNAMI's solution is bad one, but everyone else's is worse. The U.N. doesn't have much credibility in Iraq, but every other actor has less, when seen through the eyes of one-or-another stakeholder. Legitimacy is an extremely precious commodity. The virtue of an international body that can be really [...] annoying to this-or-that power at any given time is that it's the legitimacy-depository of last resort.

Why the United Nations? A recent report from the Brookings Institution concludes that the organization is uniquely situated to broker a political compromise in Iraq because "it is the only body that approximates neutrality and can claim all the relevant state actors within its membership." Only the United Nations can offer itself as a neutral convening ground for the contending factions and the neighbors, with their conflicting interests. But recent history provides good reason to worry that the United Nations will be drawn into the inferno of Iraq for all the wrong reasons, whether it be the American wish to transfer responsibility, and blame, for a hopeless cause or the ambition of a new secretary-general to prove his mettle, and that of his organization.

[snip]

The prospects are so daunting, and the likelihood of success so low, that one would never contemplate this act of diplomatic legerdemain were there any meaningful alternative. But there isn't. The American military presence is not, itself, changing the key political facts; and an American withdrawal, by itself, will not suddenly bring the parties to their sense.

A short AP dispatch provides an update on the number of internally displaced Iraqis, which had heretofore most often been reported as about 2.2 million.

Aid groups including U.N. agencies say nearly 2.8 million Iraqis are now uprooted within their country.

Iraqi authorities, the Red Cross and U.N. agencies working in Iraq say they have recorded an increase of 300,000 displaced people so far this year largely due to better methods for registering displacement.

The International Organization for Migration says more than 1 million displaced Iraqis lack adequate food and shelter. A similar number are without regular income or employment.

In addition to those displaced within Iraq, more than 2 million Iraqis have fled the country and are living as refugees abroad.

It bears reminding that it is the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq that has led the efforts to care for -- and return to their homes, when possible -- these almost 5 million displaced Iraqis. This is a pretty impressive feat for a mission currently operating with just a tiny staff; the UN refugee agency only recently increased its personnel in Baghdad from two to five.

March 20, 2008, is Day One of the sixth year of the War in Iraq. Regardless of your views on how sound the reasoning was for going to war, it's hard to deny that we have a long way to go toward a stable Iraq and restoration of America's image in the world.

January 20, 2009, is the first day of the next presidency, the first chance for the next president to chart a new course for America in Iraq and right our standing in the world. Reason suggests that neither "stay the course" nor "immediate withdrawal" is best for America and the rest of the world.

Our sister site, OnDayOne.org is asking you what that agenda should be. For the next 10 days, we will be compiling the most recent suggestions (tagged with "Iraq") in our Delegates' Lounge (top of the right column). Please submit your ideas at OnDayOne.org.