The Foreign Policy seminar saved the best for last (more video here) and we got to hear about Iraq from Judith Yaphe, Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University and Qubad Talabani, representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq to the United States. These two have been involved on many levels in the ongoing path Iraq is taking from despotism to democracy. They know each other quite well and that was obvious as they laughed together and got testy from time to time. What they did very well was to give us a look under the hood at what the Iraqis think about their country and how it can handle it's own business. Qubad Talabani was very diplomatic when asked about the aspirations of the Kurds for their own state and he said outright that it was not a "stated" goal of his people. But the fact that it is not stated, doesn't make it any less a reality the Kurds desire a state. He talked hypothetically about how a landlocked country surrounded by potential enemies could survive and even thrive. Absent that one bit of musing he explained how the Kurds were deeply involved in the growth of Iraq as a nation and how he believed it was a viable situation. Judith Yaphe was an excellent counterpoint and as such pointed out where Talabani was making provincial points for his team and where he was being an honest broker involved in the rough and tumble of politics in the new state. She was quite informative about the strengths and weaknesses of the various political actors and how the US and others could help. She and Talabani clashed when she compared the Kurdish moves to return their people to Kirkuk with Saddam's genocide in the same area. Talabani took exception to this and I think rightfully so. Saddam attempted to Arabize the area and killed tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of Kurds. While violence by returning Kurds is unfortunate, it is hardly the same. I asked Talabani about the major issue regarding his people, Kirkuk, and he was very forthright about it's importance. The oil there and the affinity the Kurds have for it mean that a resolution of who will govern there will be a huge challenge. There is a long way to go for the Iraqis, but with these folks and others they have a legitimate shot at reviving themselves as a prosperous and peaceful nation. The final session was Marvin Weinbaum of the Middle East Institute talking about Afghanistan, a country he has been studying for 40 years. He was exhaustively informed and talked us through all of the factors that contribute to the difficulties of bringing stability there. He notes that after an initial campaign that ran most of the Taliban and al Qaeda out we basically conducted a counterterror strategy against those who remained. We tried nation-building on the cheap and never managed to reach a critical mass. I asked him if he thought the treaties the Pakistanis made with the Taliban in their tribal areas led to their ability to reconstitute. I also asked him about whether President Obama's announcement of a withdrawal starting in July 2011 would make it tough to recruit Afghan tribal leaders as allies. We need to do some serious damage control if we are going to take advantage of the troops that will head to Afghanistan.
Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Blackfive/~3/iYZeM1j9RRI/knight-center-foreign-policy-iraq-afghanistan.html
Posted
Dec 07 2009, 12:34 PM
by
BLACKFIVE