Bodine advocates Iraq withdrawal

The United States' presence in Iraq stalled democratization that had been progressing in that country before American troops arrived, Wilson School diplomat-in-residence and former U.S. ambassador to Yemen Barbara Bodine said in a lecture yesterday.

During her talk, titled "Iraq: Cassandra's Curse and Pandora's Box," Bodine criticized the U.S. decision to enter Iraq and subsequent policies during its occupation. The lecture was well-attended, with all seats in Robertson 16 filled — though more with older audience members than students — and at least a dozen people standing or sitting on the floor.

The United States' reasons for entering Iraq, Bodine argued, were less than altruistic. "We were more interested in our own ideology" than in helping the Iraqi people, she said, adding that the desire to free Iraqis from Saddam Hussein's rule was "an afterthought" to the broader goal of changing the region's political framework.

"It was much more this transformational, imposed democracy — restructuring the Middle East," Bodine said.

Bodine also argued that the Bush administration "cherry-picked" intelligence that would further these objectives. "What I saw on Iraq was that there was no debate," she said. "The decision had been made. New information that was coming in was just shot down. It was very much of an echo chamber."

Additionally, Bodine criticized the practical aspects of U.S. policies in Iraq. Though America "did not go in with enough troops to secure the country," its main mistake was failing to take proper security measures soon enough once it was in charge, she said.

"We could have gone in and provided basic security," Bodine said. "At this point it is probably too late. The nature of the violence now is out of our control." She added that only Iraqis can quell the turbulence currently engulfing the country.

But, she said, the United States has been unwilling to allow Iraqis such autonomy. "We still treat them as if we can micromanage relations in Iraq," she said. Not only is this attitude patronizing, she argued; it is also unrealistic. "It's like Britain telling Lincoln in 1860, 'You'd better let the South go.' "

"One of the greatest disservices that we did to ourselves and to the Iraqis," Bodine said, was trying to "divide Iraq up into three neat parts" inhabited by Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis. This approach, she said, is too simplistic given that Iraq is "a mosaic of 27 different ethnic groups" and is unlikely to succeed. She added that U.S. policies should encourage cooperation among Iraqis and not "exacerbate the divisions in Iraqi society."

The interim Iraqi governments America has helped establish have "failed legitimacy tests," Bodine said, arguing that these systems have not been "open, transparent [or] fair" and have lacked traditional rule of law.

As a result of these mistakes, she said, "we've lost our credibility in the region. We've lost our ability to influence rather than just force."

"Like Pandora's Box, it's virtually impossible to get the evils back in the box," Bodine said, "but unlike Pandora's Box, I do think hope remains."

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Bodine said she advocates "a phased withdrawal" of U.S. troops from Iraq according to "a timeline with benchmarks" and stressed the necessity of sticking to that schedule. "We have de-legitimized ourselves in the eyes of the Iraqis," Bodine said. "Let's do ourselves a favor and plan for an orderly withdrawal and an orderly transition, a transition in our relationship with the Iraqi government."

In an interview after the lecture, Bodine said she encourages students who disagree with current U.S. policy in Iraq to "write to your congressman — seriously. If enough people write to him, he will listen."

Bodine spoke from experience, having served as U.S. ambassador to Yemen from 1997 to 2001 — a span that included the 2000 terrorist attack on the U.S.S. Cole — during which she sought to improve security cooperation between the two nations. In 2003, Bodine was appointed to a position in the Defense Department to help with the reconstruction of Baghdad and the central provinces of Iraq.