With the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, one chapter in U.S.-Iraqi relations closes and another chapter opens. This new chapter in U.S.-Iraqi relations after December is not an abandonment of Iraq. The United States remains committed to the bilateral Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA) which was entered into at the same time as the 2008 Security Agreement. The SFA sets out numerous areas for continued U.S.-Iraqi cooperation, including on defense and security issues. The United States has stood up a robust Office of Security Cooperation (OSC) at the U.S. embassy and sites across Iraq to manage security cooperation efforts in support of the Government of Iraq. By January of next year, this office will be administering nearly 370 military sales to Iraq, totaling nearly $10 billion.
The decision to go to war in Iraq has had historic repercussions throughout the world. The editors of this volume bring together scholarly analysis of the decision-making in the U.S and U.K. that led to the war, inside accounts of CIA decision-making, and key speeches and documents related to going to war. The book presents a fascinating case study of decision-making at the highest levels in the United States and Britain as their leaders planned to go to war in Iraq. Just as the Cuban Missile Crisis has been used for decades as a case study in good decision-making, the decision to go to war in Iraq will be analysed for years to come for lessons about what can go wrong in decisions about war. The book presents a fascinating and truly comparative perspective on how President Bush and Prime Minister Blair took their countries to war in Iraq. Each had to convince his legislature and public that war was necessary, and both used intelligence in questionable ways to do so. This book brings together some of the best scholarship and most relevant documents on these important decisions that will reverberate for decades to come.
An emerging U.S. grand strategy--the promotion of democracy and freedom abroad--will certainly involve the U.S. armed forces. Although they must change to meet changes in emphasis and demand, theycannot risk their historic strengths. Some areas of interest are the organization and employment of forces, planning for future conflicts, developing information resources, and fostering partnerships among the services and with allies.
U.S. withdrawal could affect Iraq's internal security and stability, which could, in turn, affect U.S. strategic interests and the safety of U.S. troops and civilians in Iraq. U.S. policy-makers need a dynamic analytic framework with which to examine the shifting motivations and capabilities of the actors that affect Iraq's security. Within this framework, the United States should be able to contribute to continued strengthening of the internal security and stability of Iraq even as it withdraws its forces.
The United States is relying heavily on private firms to supply a wide variety of services in Iraq, including security. Based on the information available in published sources, this is the first time that the United States has depended on contractors to provide such extensive security in a hostile environment, although it has previously contracted for more limited security services in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and elsewhere. This book summarises what is currently known publically about companies that provide personnel for security missions in Iraq and some sources of controversy surrounding them. A treatment of legal status and authorities follows, including an overview of relevant international law as well as Iraqi law, which currently consists primarily of Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) orders that remain in effect until superseded. The various possible means for prosecuting contractors under U.S. law in civilian or military courts are also detailed, followed by a discussion of possible issues for Congress. This is an edited, excerpted and augmented edition of various government publications.
In January 2005, George W. Bush committed the nation to the extraordinary goal of "ending tyranny in our world." Since then, there has been a storm of debate in the United States and abroad about the appropriateness of this goal as a motivating factor for U.S. foreign policy. To the extent that Americans equate "ending tyranny" with toppling hostile regimes, as in Iraq, and replacing them with new forms of representative government, they are divided on the issue and increasingly suspicious of the prospects for success. But to the extent that Americans see "ending tyranny" as a broader, long-term response to the challenges posed by terrorism rooted in radical interpretations of Islam and the proliferation of destruction, a consensus seems to be emerging that this is an appropriate strategy for the nation and its allies. Should this broader strategy be sustained, it will have far-reaching effects on the institutions of the U.S. Government. This monograph explores the implications of this strategy and of key factors shaping the international security environment for the Department of Defense (DoD). The authors focused on DoD for two key reasons. First, the armed forces of the United States have been used to spearhead this new strategy, and they have achieved important successes. But it is also clear that, in several instances, U.S. armed forces are being called on to perform missions that are well outside their normal repertoire. If these missions represent a more permanent set of demands on the armed forces, more lasting changes need to be considered. Second, DoD is again involved in a major review of strategy, which follows on the recent Quadrennial Defense Review. This review and the period of implementation that will follow it offer the administration the opportunity to consider anew the demands of the international security environment, missions assigned to the armed forces, proper emphasis among those missions, and allocation of resources allotted to them.
The U.S.-led war in Iraq complicates security cooperation between the United States and Central Asia at a time when other regional powers2especially Russia, China, and India2are competing for influence in the region more overtly. Concerned about the implications of the U.S. interest in [beta]regime change[gamma] for their own rule, Central Asian leaders now have an added incentive to overstate terrorist threats, persecute political opposition, and crack down on peaceful religious activity. The author argues that the United States should do more to address the underlying human security problems in Central Asia, which increase its vulnerability to terrorist movements.
This exceptional volume examines international security issues by way of case studies of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Each of these raises significant issues concerning the use of force between states and the role of the United Nations in maintaining international peace and security. Alex Conte examines international terrorism and the intervention in Afghanistan, including the controversial policy of pre-emptive strikes in the war on terror, and discusses the role adopted by the United Nations in the political and economic reconstruction of states subjected to conflict. Analyzing events in Iraq since 1990, he assesses the legality of the current war and leads to an examination of the role of the UN in maintaining peace and security and possible options for reform and accountability. The study will be a valuable guide for all those keen to understand the use of international law and the United Nations in the first two major conflicts of the 21st century and their implications for the future role of the United Nations.
