WHAT NEXT FOR IRAQ?

“I think it was a serious mistake to allow the liberation of Iraq to become an occupation” – Richard Perle, Chairman of the U.S. Defense Policy Board (2001-2003)

 The US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq arguably has become the most divisive international issue since the Cold War.

 It has undermined the moral authority of organisations such as the United Nations, triggered an alarming surge in international terrorism and left many millions of people around the world thinking “what next?”

 Leaders of the United States and Britain are paying a high political price for their decision to send forces into Iraq without a U.N. mandate in April 2003, at a time when more than ever before accountability is demanded.

 Thus, it was not surprising that the opening session of the 2007 Eurasian Media Forum reflected some of the tensions generated by events in Iraq, including fiery talk that provoked a main speaker to walk from the stage.

 Former Iraqi Human Rights Minister Bakhtiar Amin, who lost more than 60 members of his family under the iron rule of the late President Saddam Hussein, said: “I am always wondering when people speak about Iraq whether they have the interests of the Iraqi people at heart or have other agendas.”

 Asked if the U.S. government was “paying for its policies in Iraq” or had any regrets, Richard Perle, a former Chairman of the U.S. Defense Policy Board and an Assistant Secretary of Defence, said he had advocated Saddam’s removal soon after the 9/11 attacks.

 “We could not afford to wait while (Al-Qaeda’s Osama) bin Laden was active,” he said.

 Perle said the United States had neither acted out of any imperial ambition, nor in the mistaken belief that Americans alone could achieve the reconstruction of the country. “Only the Iraqis can do that.”

 But he agreed that it had been “a serious mistake to allow the liberation of Iraq to become an occupation”.

 Former Russian Prime-Minister Eugenie Primakov said: “What is happening is a tragedy. Iraq is facing territorial breakdown and going through civil war. It has also become one of the platforms for Al-Qaeda’s development.”

 He spoke of “major U.S. mistakes”, including replication in Iraq of the West German post-World War Two model when the dismissal of the German army and police left a vacuum.

 But he said the United States should not withdraw immediately. He called for a timetable to strengthen the Iraqi government and for a possible inter-Arab force to replace occupation troops.

 Primakov said it would be wrong for Russia “to support the isolation” of the United States. “Without the U.S. you cannot fight terrorism. Also, Iran wants to talk to the U.S., so does North Korea.”

 Asked what options now faced Washington, Richard Holbrooke, a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, said: “We are in the early stages of a presidential election in the United States. It will be the most intense and expensive election and the central issue will be this question. I cannot give a clear answer.

 “President Bush has acknowledged he will pass the war on to his successor. For better or worse, two-thirds of the American public are opposed to the war and want a quick solution and to get out. The fact is that the situation in Iraq would be dramatically affected by such a withdrawal. The nature of the departure will determine the shape of the region as well.

 “Responsible leaders on both sides agree that a precipitate withdrawal would create more problems than we now face. Unless the Iraqi government collapses, the next president will have to decide. For the United States, the war in Iraq has been a tremendous, tremendous problem.”

 The fiercest attack on the U.S. and Britain was from British parliamentarian George Galloway, who was expelled from the ruling Labour Party in 2003 after being found guilty of four charges of bringing the party into disrepute. He is now an elected Member of Parliament for the Respect Party.

 “The people who brought Osama bin Laden to this region (Iraq) are Britain and the U.S.. Tony Blair is leaving Downing Street in just a few weeks… and in the U.S. George Bush is a broken reed and a lame duck. Nobody believes the leaders of these countries any more, even when they are telling the truth. Their tower of lies is taller than the Tower of Babel,” he said.

 Ariel Cohen, Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation in the United States, said events concerning Iraq were at a crucial point and that finger pointing and playing the “blame game” did not help.

 “I think we are running out of time in the Middle East, not just in Iraq. The Sunni-Shia divide is the next threat to the region.” He called for “immediate and united” measures to help Iraq.

 Former Iraqi Human Rights Minister Amin said: “Many people are silent on the true nature of what is happening in Iraq. We should help Iraqis and we should make our best efforts to stop infiltration of any kind from any neighbours of Iraq.”

 Holbrooke rejected a suggestion that Western powers created divisions. “The U.S. does not have it in its capability to do that,” he said. “It is not moral, ethical or correct. I sense in your question a caricature of the United States and its motivations.

 “I cannot accept the idea that the United States has somehow got an evil or malevolent context to it.”

 He also expressed disappointment that every anti-American statement at the conference was greeted with applause, whereas the United States supported the United Nations and was the greatest single supplier of international aid.  This, in turn, won a round of applause from the audience.

 As Galloway started to ask the audience why they were applauding, Holbrooke got up and walked off the stage with a dismissive wave in the British politician’s direction.

 “That’s totally out of order,” Galloway shouted after him.  Holbrooke returned to the conference later, after Galloway’s departure.

 At the closing session, Dariga Nazarbayeva, chair of the organising committee, expressed regrets to the US delegates for the anti-American feelings expressed at the conference.

 “I applaud their bravery,” she said, adding that she was pleased that the conference had given the Americans a chance to express their views and defend their policies.