Policy Report

American Foreign Policy: Making History

Critical Thinking-

1. U.S interests that are at stake in the Iraq conflict include: Oil, Economy, Military, and National Security. All 4 are tied together in that they all have something to do with money. The U.S spends billions of dollars to fund the war in Iraq and this is causing the country's debt to grow. The war has also left the U.S's ability to handle disasters on it's own soil very vulnerable. Hurricane Katrina is a great example. The U.S is also very dependant on foreign oil and the fact that the Middle East is an oil powerhouse makes the war in Iraq a fragile issue with the other Arab Nations.

2. United States relations with the Middle East and the Arab worlds are a mix of good and bad. In some parts of the Middle East the U.S. is viewed with hatred and large portions of the Arab world hold Anti-American views. However, the U.S has kept a strong alliance with Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

3. In general the rebuilding effort put on by the U.S has been seen as an occupation rather than a helping hand to the Iraqi's. The U.S has been in Iraq for 5 years and there is little progress in the way of rebuilding. Most of the international community, including the Arab community, would like to see more progress made in a shorter amount of time.

4. The welfare of the Iraqi people should be important because it is ultimately the people of Iraq that determine how the war will end. The welfare of the Iraqi's is also important in determining the U.S's standing with the Iraqi government after the war. The U.S wants a good relationship with a Post-War Iraqi government in order to keep it's standing in the region. The only way the U.S has a shot at a good position is to make the welfare of the Iraqi people a top priority in U.S policies.

5. a) The War on Terror has been lead mainly by the U.S and the war in Iraq has a large effect on how that war is perceived. If the U.S shows other nation's that the U.S deals with any nations suspected of terrorism by declaring war, this creates a bad reputation and image of U.S leadership and is hurting the U.S's standing as a nation of peace.

b) The U.S policy toward Iraq has an effect on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by making the U.S seem even more anti-Arab. The U.S has mainly chosen to side with the Israelis and the Palestinians see that as the U.S being anti-Arab.

6. The war in Iraq puts our relations with other nations that have WMD's at risk. The U.S going into Iraq on a basis of Saddam Hussein having WMD's shows other nations that the U.S would like to be one of a select few nations that posses nuclear weapons.

7. In the coming weeks and months the U.S should take steps to stabilize Iraq to the point where the country can run effectively without much U.S involvement. The Government should also begin withdrawing troops from Iraq in order to better protect the U.S itself. The U.S should also begin working with other nations to help cover the funding for the rebuilding effort.

8. The U.S long term goals should be to establish a good relationship with the new Iraqi government and to keep any terrorists from entering the country and establishing bases of operation there. It should also be a goal to work with the Iraqi people in establishing a good and stable economy and government in the country. The Iraqi's need to have their own country without U.S interference.

9. The values that are important to me are the ones that involve the Iraqi people themselves. I think that it is vital that the U.S shows the Iraqi civilians just how helpful our nation can be. The U.S. needs to start making plans to let Iraq become a nation controlled by its people and not a foreign government.

10. The pro and cons of my option are that if the U.S pulls out of Iraq too quickly then the country may collapse into a civil war and the U.S could loose all the work it has achieved so far. If the U.S pulls out too late and does not help the Iraqi's in the rebuilding process enough then any good relationship the US wanted to have with the new Iraqi government may be put in jeopardy.

Option 1

Underlying Beliefs-

I do not agree with any of these beliefs. The U.S government has no right to go into another country and take out it's government simply because it is tyrannical or communist. As long as a country is not either a direct threat or attacking the U.S then the U.S government has no right to interfere with another country's politics. Since Iraq is it's own country I think that the Iraqi people have the right to pick how the country is run. Unlike in the past I think that the U.S should allow the Iraqi's to pick their leader instead of the U.S placing a "puppet" leader at the head of the government. If the Iraqi people are left to choose their own form of government then I think the U.S and Iraq may be stronger allies than if the U.S keeps interfering.

Goals-

I disagree with all of the option goals. Goal number 2 states: "Ensure that no weapons of mass destruction from Saddam Hussein's Iraq get into the hands of our enemies either other states or terrorists." I do not agree because even though the American public was told that Saddam Hussein had WMD's it was later revealed that he had none. "The Iraq Survey Group's main findings -- that Hussein's Iraq did not possess chemical and biological weapons and had only aspirations for a nuclear program -- were made public in October in an interim report covering nearly 1,000 pages...The report, which refuted many of the administration's principal arguments for going to war in Iraq, marked the official end of a two-year weapons hunt led most recently by former U.N. weapons inspector Charles A. Duelfer. The team found that the 1991 Persian Gulf War and subsequent U.N. sanctions had destroyed Iraq's illicit weapons capabilities and that, for the most part, Hussein had not tried to rebuild them." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content /article/2005/ 04/25/AR2005042501554.html) The U.S government can't make it a goal to keep WMD's from getting into the hands of terrorists if a country has none in the first place. The other 2 goals also make no sense either. When the U.S went into Iraq and Afghanistan we did not violate any existing alliances in the Middle East. The U.S has kept its alliance with Saudi Arabia so there is really no need for goal number 1. The U.S achieved goal number 3 by going into Afghanistan after 9/11. When the U.S went into Iraq the government had really no basis for starting a war there.

Arguments