December 27, 2006 - The principle destroyer of meaningful decision-making is the false belief that everything is best handled by consensus and compromise. Too many pols and yakking editorialists constantly promote the virtue of the "center." Most pols like that because the middle is a great place to hide. Contrary to conventional wisdom, it's a lousy place from which to govern when faced with really big problems.

The Baker-Hamilton Commission is a classic case of attempting to shoehorn everything into "consensus." The product of mostly has-beens and hacks, it's the wrong approach.

What is needed for Iraq - and other things - is clarity. A real study group presents the available options - all of them - and includes what will happen if they're implemented. That's much more useful than mush everybody signs off on.

My qualifications for study group membership are simple: expertise acquired either by presence or erudition, or a genuine constituency. Anything members happen to concur on is a bonus. Here's who I want and why:

Authors and journalists

€ Tammy Bruce - Pro-war lesbian Democrat; for the quota fixated, that covers three, but her views are unique and well-stated.

€ Pat Buchanan - Anti-war white male and old-right conservative.

€ T.J. Fehrenbach - Pulitzer Prize-winner in 1961 for "This Kind of War"; this old soldier (WWII,Korea) always gives solid counsel and still writes a weekly column.

€ Niall Ferguson -Historian, author, iconoclastic thinker; believes the U.S. is an imperial power, should admit to it and do it as well as the Brits did it; signed on as a campaign advisor to John McCain.

€ Joe Galloway - Columnist, co-author of "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young," which was made into the greatest of Vietnam War movies; wants immediate pull-out and despises Bush - something he more than earned; with others, needs to answer one question: What do we owe the Kurds and others who will clearly be screwed again if we just leave?

€ Amy Goodman - Leftwing screamers need representation; she's at least coherent.

€ Ellen Goodman - Better writer than her namesake and one liberal who's actually an original thinker; wants Iraqis to vote on whether we stay.

€ Victor Davis Hanson - One of the finest of today's military historians and a great writer; another pro-war Democrat who supported Clinton in the '90s.

€ Hugh Hewitt - America's finest conservative talk show host; author, law prof and political realist.

€ Christopher Hitchens - A Brit, pro-war lefty who's intelligent and original.

€ Robert Kaplan - Author of "Imperial Grunts"; known as the travel writer from Hell, who's been there, done that, whatever it is or where, including Iraq.

€ Bill Kristol - Central-casting "neo-con"; currently unhappy with how war is being handled.

€ Sam Smith - Totally iconoclastic and original leftwing thinker; too honest for too many on "his side."

€ Mark Steyn - Canadian born conservative writer with a great Brit accent; best sense of humor, a necessary commodity.

Add to the list, the following sitting pols: Senators Sam Brownback (R), Hillary Clinton (D), John McCain (R) and Barrack Obama (D). If they want a bigger job, try them here first. Then add Sen. Joe Leiberman for being a pro-war Democrat, and Representatives Stenny Hoyer (D) and Duncan Hunter (R) to cover the leadership types, as well as Dennis Kucinich (D) and Ron Paul (R) as the back-benchers.

Then bring aboard these former pols: Senators Phil Gramm (R) and Sam Nunn (D) and Representatives Dick Armey (R) and Patsy Schroeder (D). Throw in Rudy Giuliani (R), too.

Don't forget Army Gen. Tommy Franks, who won the first part of the operation, and Marine Lt. Gen. Anthony Zinni, who didn't want to go at all. Also add Lt. Col. Ollie North (R), who doesn't stay in the Green Zone and Capt. Tammy Duckworth (D), the double-amputee chopper pilot who just lost a congressional bid. Plus, select four randomly chosen NCO's with Iraq time, equally divided between Regulars and Reserves.

That's bi-partisan and fair and balanced. Putting them all in one room would be great theater, but probably counter-productive. Asking them to simply submit what they'd do and why based on what they already know would be faster, make for much better reading and policy making than the over-priced sludge in the Baker-Hamilton report.

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EMIL FRANZI

EMAIL FRANZI

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About Emil Franzi

Emil Franzi is the owner and host of "Inside Track" on KVOI - 690AM and KAPR - 930AM in Douglas. The program airs on Saturdays from 12 pm till 5 pm.

Franzi currently writes a weekly column for the EXPLORER (formerly the NORTHWEST EXPLORER). He filled the TUCSON WEEKLY with close to a million relevant words from 1993 to 2004 and was an OpEd regular with the Az Daily Star from 1994 to 1998. His writing has also appeared in PHOENIX Magazine, ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, and the late CITY MAGAZINE in Tucson.

But then, Franzi is an iconoclast.

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