Yemen Observer: http://www.yobserver.com
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Opinions
Written By: Raja Kamal*
Article Date: Jul 12, 2008 - 1:06:52 AM
There is no shortage of opinions when it comes to the war in Iraq. The prolonged U.S. presence there has ignited a heated, national debate. Along with the pressing economic concerns, the Iraq war is front and center in the presidential campaign – with senators Barack Obama and John McCain ideologically divided on the proposed policies – mirroring much of the nation.
Yet, most agree that the cost is mushrooming to an uncontrollable level. It's worth a new appraisal of where we are going with this investment. Today the cost of the Iraq quagmire is over half a trillion dollars – with little or no returns on this investment.
This substantial military campaign has not yielded the desired objectives for the U.S. George W. Bush administration. The major premise of the invasion was the democratization of Iraq that would eventually engulf the Arab world. Five years later, true democracy is nowhere to be seen in Iraq or elsewhere in the region. Iraq is now ethnically divided, bordering on dangerous lawlessness and venturing ever so closely into a civil war, with the United States caught in the middle.
The administration is now promoting a new approach: patience. It believes that changes will happen eventually in Iraq. Perhaps not as fast or smoothly as was hoped, but it will happen. This is a false assumption. As the last five years have demonstrated, a forced change that is dependent on hard power is likely to fail. To the contrary, the presence of the U.S. troops has helped galvanize and organize the anti-U.S. resistance. We are now fighting an elusive and undefined enemy. One only needs to look at the newly formed groups that emerged after the Iraq invasion with the mission to fight the U.S. occupation. Changes in Iraq must happen organically and from within. Speeding up the process is a dangerous recipe. Next January a new administration will take over in Washington. Regardless of who is elected, there will be an opportunity to introduce soft power into the context of U.S. foreign policy to Iraq and around the world. Maintaining the status quo is like throwing good money after bad.
Soft power, thoroughly discussed by Harvard's Joseph S. Nye, is an effective way to distinguish between the subtle effects of culture, values, and ideas from more coercive measures such as military action. Nowhere in the Middle East has U.S. soft power been more historically effective than in Lebanon.
American values and traditions have been shared gradually and continuously for almost a century and half through the American University of Beirut (AUB). Lebanon in particular, and the region as whole, have benefited from that university.
Founded by missionaries in 1866 as a private non-sectarian liberal arts college, AUB became a beacon of change in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East. The commitment to critical thinking and to a well-rounded liberal arts education was and still is integral to its mission. The modest American support of AUB of a few million dollars each year (privately and publicly) has helped shape leaders in the region and yielded immeasurable returns.
American interest in AUB has always been strong. Continuously led by American leadership, AUB became the cultural ambassador of the United States. The entire region has benefited from the establishment of AUB. This summer, Peter Dorman of the University of Chicago will be the 15th president of this fine institution. Dr. Dorman's tenure at AUB is a personal one that builds on family tradition. He is the great-great grandson of Daniel Bliss, the founder of AUB.
There is a need to support institutions like AUB. Such support is the most effective way to make change happen from within and simultaneously create goodwill. This is a fraction of the cost of the Iraq war which is about $5,000 a second. One could imagine the benefits if similar institutions had been supported around the world. That would have been a formidable foreign aid success.
Iraq will continue to drain much of the needed resources that could be spent wisely and effectively at home and abroad. Not only is the war in Iraq an experiment that went wrong, but it is proving to have a negative impact on the image of the United States overseas. International polls validate the low position the United States now holds globally.
Acknowledging failure in Iraq is a step in the right direction. What to do next is now being debated. Hopefully soft power is on the menu. We can't afford another Iraq war.
* Raja Kamal is associate dean for resource development at the Harris School for Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago.