Obama's new strategy will leave Iraq to be responsible

by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

By August 31, 2010 the U.S. combat mission in Iraq will end.

Today at a Press Conference held at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, President Obama addressed his new strategy to end the war in Iraq.

President Obama said that his new strategy would end the war by working on transitioning Iraqis to full responsibility. “To achieve that goal, we will work to promote an Iraqi government that is just, representative, and accountable, and that provides neither support nor safe-haven to terrorists...America’s men and women in uniform, so many of you, fought block by block, province by province, year after year, to give the Iraqis this chance to choose a better future. Now, we must ask the Iraqi people to seize it.”

The first part of Obama’s strategy is to responsibly remove our combat brigades from Iraq. “As we carry out this drawdown, my highest priority will be the safety and security of our troops and civilians in Iraq.” Obama said that once the U.S. has removed combat brigades the next mission is to change from combat to supporting the Iraqi government and its security forces. “As I have long said, we will retain a transitional force to carry out three distinct functions: training, equipping, and advising Iraqi security forces as they remain non sectarian; conducting targeted counter-terrorism missions; and protecting our ongoing civilian and military efforts within Iraq.”

The second part of the strategy is to sustain diplomacy between U.S. and Iraq but Obama stated that since Iraq is a sovereign country, America cannot, and should not, take their place. “Diplomacy and assistance is also required to help the millions of displaced Iraqis. These men, women and children are a living consequence of this war and a challenge to stability in the region, and they must become a part of Iraq’s reconciliation and recovery.”

The third part of the strategy would be to help establish productive and normalized relationships with the Middle East region. “Going forward, the United States will pursue principled and sustained engagement with all of the nations in the region, and that will include Iran and Syria.”

Obama also spoke about working on the United States’ relationship with Iraq as well. “Our nations have known difficult times together. But ours is a bond forged by shared bloodshed, and countless friendships among our people. We Americans have offered our most precious resource, our young men and women, to work with you to rebuild what was destroyed by despotism...The United States pursues no claim on your territory or your resources...Going forward we can build a lasting relationship founded upon mutual interests and mutual respect as Iraq takes its rightful place in the community of nations.”

Obama went on to honor U.S. soldiers for their sacrifice and talked about implementing a 21st century GI Bill, and identifying and treating wounds of the war like post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury that many soldiers endure after. “Your sacrifice should challenge all of us, every single American, to ask what we can do to be better citizens.”

American education in the middle east---a diplomatic tool?

American style education in the Middle East may be a way to improve development and also assist U.S./Middle East relations, suggests David Arnold, President of the American University in Cairo.

The Brookings Institution discussion on “American Education in the Middle East: Smart Power for a New Era” encouraged the creation of American University branches in the Middle East, which have been popular expansion methods for several American Universities in the past decade.

Arnold believes using Liberal Arts education models in the Middle East will best prepare youths for the job market, which he believes is rapidly transitioning from the public sector to the private sector. Although higher education models in the Middle East have been heavily geared towards preparing students for work in government institutions in the past, Arnold believes changing to American models will make students more competitive in the international market and speed economic development.

The Gulf now the economic center of the Middle East

The Center for Strategic and International Studies held a discussion on the "Making Sense of Gulf Economic Trends."

The Gulf has now become the epicenter of the Middle East, anything that happens in the Gulf effects the entire region, said Mohsin Kahn, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund. He pointed out that other countries in the Middle East and the world invest heavily in the countries in the Gulf, and that these countries have 40 percent of the world's oil reserves and a combined GDP of over $1 trillion.

Countries in the Gulf face many challenges and problems, said Khan; they are facing high inflation rates, they face dilemmas in how to manage oil revenues, they have to deal with the current financial crisis and they are trying to create a monetary union in the area.

These countries need to invest in their infrastructure in order to develop their economies, said Khan. He pointed out that since their main source of income, oil, is a limited resource, they also have to save some of their money to ensure the well-being of future generations.

A high amount of government spending on infrastructures leads to high rates of inflation, currently the average rate of inflation in the Gulf countries is around 11.5 percent, said Khan. Fluctuating oil prices also have an effect on how governments choose to spend their budgets - in 2005 oil was $50 a barrel, earlier this year it ran up to $147 a barrel, and currently it is just below $60 a barrel.

Khan concluded that improving the infrastructure should be one of the top priorities for Gulf countries, because when the world economy starts to pick up and the Middle East doesn't have the capacity to supply enough oil, "$147 a barrel will be cheap."

Extremism in Pakistan higher than ever

Extremists in the Middle East believe the war on terror is "targeted against Muslims" said Former Interior Minister of Pakistan Aftab Khan Sherpao. He added that this belief some have in Pakistan is "misguided."

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) held a discussion on extremism in Pakistan. Sherpao said that the U.S. must rely on dialogue with native Pakistanis, development of the country of Pakistan, and deterrence against insurgents residing in Pakistan. He added that "winning the hearts and minds of people" in that region is very important.

Sherpao did caution that military action would not accomplish anything in the fight against terrorism, but that Pakistan "needs immediate help." He said that Al-Qaeda and the Taliban are "well resourced" and "highly motivated."

Former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan Wendy Chamberlin said that "extremism is spreading" in that region. She added that the situation is as bad as ever in Pakistan, saying "Anti-Americanism is at its peak" in the country. She said that we must not merely help Pakistan on its Afghanistan border, but "all of Pakistan."

USIP Senior Rule of Law Advisor Alexander Thier said that "Pakistan is in turmoil." She said the extremist movement in Pakistan is "threatening everything." Sherpao agreed, saying extremism in
Pakistan "affects the world as a whole."

Hedges denounces U.S. foreign policy

The U.S. occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan are the "worst foreign policy blunders in American history," said Senior Fellow at the Nation Institute and keynote speaker of the annual Palestine Center Conference Chris Hedges.

Hedges added that the U.S. occupation of Iraq has created "atrocity producing situations" because of the human nature of those fighting to "lash out" when someone they fight with gets shot or killed.

Hedges said that Israel has separate national lines around the Gaza Strip in order to "create ghettos." He said that Israel is trying to drive middle-class Christians out of the West Bank.

Hedges claimed that right-wing Christians' language is "toxic." He said that if evolution and creationism are given equal time in any educational forum, "We've already lost." He stated that atheists have similar hateful language calling them "secular fundamentalists." He is concerned that this atheism rhetoric "has seeped into the universities."

Talking about America's possible future involvement in the Middle East, Hedges said "If we go to war with Iran, I will no longer pay my income taxes."

Hedges has spent over two decades as a war correspondent for organizations such as the New York Times. He has reported on American involvements in the Middle East.