South Africa still confronts tribal divisions and a host of fractious issues, but the TRC is regarded as a success and a model for national reconciliation.

Rwanda has implemented its own reconciliation process, with mixed results. I recall reading about a tribunal two years ago that gave a confessed killer (a Rwandan Hutu) a reduced sentence, over the objections of Tutsi villagers who had lost family members in the 1994 massacres.

The man, however, had to publicly confess his crimes, ask forgiveness from those who suffered and accept his criminal sentence. The greater public goal was a township where both Tutsis and Hutus recognized the rule of law and agreed to live together without blood vendettas.

Iraqis know that decades of dictatorship have splintered their society. Last June, Prime Minister Nour al-Maliki presented a reconciliation plan to the Iraqi parliament. Maliki's plan included a controversial proposal that would provide amnesty for some Iraqis who have fought and killed coalition troops (including U.S. troops).

At a press conference in June, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said that in his opinion there were only two classes of "irreconcilables": "those who want the old regime back (i.e., Saddam's regime) and those who are al-Qaida terrorist supporters."

The Washington Post quoted Khalilzad as adding, "All wars must come to an end, and the hostility has to be replaced by reconciliation."

Let's hope Khalilzad is right.

Reconciliation encourages cooperation, which Iraq desperately needs to advance politically and economically. Which leads to this holiday observation: Thanksgiving focuses on sharing a mutual bounty -- the harvest. And it is broad cooperation that produces the most bountiful harvests.