A panel discussion on whether theUnited Statesshould withdraw from, remain in, or more deeply commit toIraqwill be held at12:30 p.m.on Thursday (Sept. 28) in the auditorium of theHesburghCenterfor International Studies.
For the third year in a row, Notre Dame faculty members will address the question,The War inIraq:What Now?This years discussion, sponsored by the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and the Center for Social Concerns, will include Keir Lieber and Daniel Lindley, both assistant professors of political science; George Lopez, senior fellow at the Kroc Institute; and Gerard Powers, director of policy studies at the Kroc Institute.Heather Hurlburt, who served in the Clinton administration State Department and later as a special assistant and speech writer to President Clinton, will be the discussion moderator.
According to Lindley,staying the course is virtually useless.As we draw down, we must use our leverage to promote a partition, which is the most likely and least worst outcome anyway.The goal is to shorten the civil war and to lessen violent ethnic cleansing and foreign interference.
Acknowledging that the invasion ofIraqmay have been a war of choice, Powers argues that it is not now an optional commitment.TheU.S.intervention was not legitimate and Americans are getting weary of the burdens they now bear, but we have a moral responsibility to the Iraqi people that we cannot shirk,he says.
Although critical of the Bush administrations occupation policies, Lieber believes that theUnited Statesshould stay the course inIraqbecause doing so is the best of all the bad options.
Lopez supports withdrawal fromIraq.If we understand thatIraqhas now falleninto anarchywhich is very different from civil warthen we begin to recognize that a stay the courseapproach does little to improve security but it will get moreU.S.troops killed.
In addition to moderating the discussion, Hurlburt will speak onThe Midterm Elections and the War inIraqat5:30 p.m., also on Thursday, in the lounge of the Coleman-Morse building on the Notre Dame campus.
* Contact: * _Julie Titone, director of communications for the Kroc Institute, at jtitone@nd.edu , 574-631-8819
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