- The Real Outcome of the Iraq War: US and Iranian Strategic Competition in Iraq, Anthony H. Cordesman, et al. Center for Strategic and International Studies
Iraq has become a key focus of the strategic competition between the United States and Iran. The history of this competition has been shaped by the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), the 1991 Gulf War, and the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Since the 2003 war, both the US and Iran have competed to shape the structure of Post-Saddam Iraq’s politics, governance, economics, and security.
The US has gone to great lengths to counter Iranian influence in Iraq, including using its status as an occupying power and Iraq’s main source of aid, as well as through information operations and more traditional press statements highlighting Iranian meddling. However, containing Iranian influence, while important, is not America’s main goal in Iraq. It is rather to create a stable democratic Iraq that can defeat the remaining extremist and insurgent elements, defend against foreign threats, sustain an able civil society, and emerge as a stable power friendly to the US and its Gulf allies.
- End of Mission Ceremony in Baghdad, GEN Martin Dempsey, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey at the End of Mission Ceremony in Baghdad
Thank you very much Ambassador, Mr. Secretary, Ministers, General Babaker—my brother, and I see out there as well, General Abdul Kader, you’re always going to be General Abdul Kader to me, you know that. As-Salamu Alakum [peace be with you].
Thank you for welcoming me back to Baghdad to mark this new beginning for Iraq, the United States and on some level, the entire region. I’m honored to share this moment with Secretary Panetta, Ambassador Jeffrey, General Mattis, and of course General Austin and his sergeant major [Command Sgt. Maj. Joseph Allen]. They stand tall in a long line of American leaders who have been dedicated to seeing this difficult mission through. They represent a generation of my fellow who came here to keep America safe and to free Iraq from tyranny. They have shouldered their duties in partnership with our very respected Iraqi brothers. http://www.jcs.mil/speech.aspx?ID=1668
- Was the Iraq War Worth It?, Andrew J. Bacevich, et al. Council on Foreign Relations
Was the nine-year U.S. war in Iraq worth it? Boston University's Andrew Bacevich says the world is a better place without Saddam Hussein, but stresses that the "disastrous legacy" of the war transcends lives lost or dollars spent. CFR's Max Boot says it may be premature to assess the benefits but there remains a chance for Iraq to serve as "a model for the Arab Spring." Michael Ignatieff, an academic, human rights advocate, and initial supporter of the war, says groups like the Kurds and the Shia in Iraq have gained. But it's "difficult to believe the war was worth it," he says, given the damage to U.S. credibility, the strengthening of Iran, and the lack of stability in Iraq. Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution expresses hope that over time the "the war will not be seen historically as a mistake or failure." http://www.cfr.org/iraq/iraq-war-worth-/p26820
- Iraq: Putting US Withdrawal in Perspective, Anthony H. Co desman. Center for Strategic and International Studies
The prospects of cuts in defense spending interacts with the US failure to reach a meaningful agreement with the Iraqi government over how to implement the Strategic Framework Agreement. At present, the US security role will continue after the end of 2011, but in an extremely limited way. Plans keep changing, but the US effort to deal with the Iraqi military will consist solely of a small Office of Security Cooperation (OSC), and an increasingly uncertain police training mission that has been transferred to the State Department and which the Congress is unlikely to fund at anything like the planned level. http://csis.org/files/publication/111214_Iraq_US_Withdrawal.pdf
- U.S.-Iraq Relations Enter a New Era: U.S. Forces Complete their Strategic Reset as U.S. Diplomats Set New Tone, Peter Juul. Center for American Progress
Our nation is well on its way to withdrawing the last of our troops from Iraq before the holiday season begins, just as President Barack Obama promised. Under the U.S.-Iraq security agreement our troops must be out by the end of the year, but Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s visit to Washington this week will be matched by U.S. military ceremonies in Baghdad and elsewhere highlighting the final strategic reset of our Iraq policy sometime this week.
Prime Minister Maliki’s visit will mark this key achievement of the Obama administration, but so too will his talks with President Obama and other top administration officials as the United States and Iraq enter into a more normal relationship. The U.S. military is leaving Iraq but it is clear that the United States will not be leaving Iraq any time soon. As a result, it’s worth charting out where the new U.S.-Iraq relationship will and should be going in the near future. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/12/us_iraq_relationship.html
- The "End" of the War in Iraq?, Anthony H. Cordesman. Center for Strategic and International Studies
It is all too clear that most Americans want the war in Iraq to be over. A Gallup poll in October found that 75% approved of President Obama’s withdrawal of U.S. troops, although Americans divide sharply by party: 96% Democrats, 77% independents, and 43% Republicans. There are good reasons for such feelings. In spite of U.S. military successes in reducing the level of internal violence in Iraq, the war has been a strategic failure when its costs are compared to its benefits. http://csis.org/files/publication/111212_Cordesman_EndWarIraq_Commentary_Formatted.pdf
- Oversight in Iraq and Afghanistan: Challenges and Solutions, Hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on National Security, Homeland Defense, and Foreign Operations http://oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1529%3A12-7-2011-qoversight-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-challenges-and-solutionsq&catid=17&Itemid=25
- Central Asia and the Transition in Afghanistan, A Majority Staff Report by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations http://www.foreign.senate.gov/publications/download/central-asia-and-the-transition-in-afghanistan2
