This week on TPMCafe's America Abroad, the bloggers are talking about... Iraq, Wilson’s Fourteen Points and Kofi Annan. My full summary is after the break.

Iraq

Bruce Jentleson believed that because the administration confuses its premises and propositions in Iraq, it is coming up with flawed policy. He considered the surge proposal as just another result of the inability of the administration to accept facts in Iraq and he is not convinced it will work. Ivo Daalder agreed that Bush either doesn’t understand or isn’t accepting what is going on inside of Iraq. In Daalder’s view, the administration has been playing a blame game, the most recent victim being General George W. Casey, the top U.S. commander on the ground in Baghdad. When Bush does unveil his new Iraq strategy, Daalder is not convinced it will be anything more than the same strategy — “old-wine-in-new-bottles.” Daalder quotes Senator Joseph Biden who stated that “a significant portion of this administration, maybe even including the vice president, believes Iraq is lost. They have no answer to deal with how badly they have screwed it up. I am not being facetious now. Therefore, the best thing to do is keep it from totally collapsing on your watch and hand it off to the next guy -- literally, not figuratively."

As ethnic violence continues, Rachel Kleinfeld suggested that US troops assist in moving Iraqis into homogeneous areas to minimize the sectarian killings after coalition forces inevitably leave. Commentator Dan K questioned if the population transfer would be feasible given the amount of infrastructure required and suggests that if such a step is to be taken, the UN would be the organization best for the job. According to Jentleson, the US has not been living up to its moral responsibility in terms of refugees in Iraq. Only 500 Iraqis were allowed into the US in 2006 and only $45 millions was spent on refugees all year compared with the $8 billion the US spends each month on the war. Commentator Tom Wright responded that the US should stay in Iraq until the infighting “runs its course” or else more chaos will occur.

In Other News On America Abroad

*As the anniversary of the Fourteen Points address by Woodrow Wilson nears, John Ikenberry looks at his legacy and gives his own Fourteen Points about the significance of Wilson to American foreign policy.

* On Kofi Annan’s last day as UN Secretary General, Lee Feinstein looked at how his legacy probably won’t be focused on his “parting shots he delivered to the Bush administration,” but to the “principles that this administration has propounded, if not practiced."