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STRATFOR.com
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The Iraq Problem: U.S. Foreign Policy in the Balance
February 18, 2002
Summary
The U.S. State and Defense Departments appear to be pushing differing strategies for potentially removing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power. Whichever faction eventually prevails will help decide future U.S. foreign policy not only in Iraq but also throughout the world.
Analysis
A stream of ex-Iraqi military officers has been invited to Washington in recent months to explore options for overthrowing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. According to Salon.com, several meetings in early November and December were held under the auspices of the Middle East Institute, a private group headed by former top U.S. State Department officials.
The Bush administration appears divided over how to remove Hussein. Although the State Department reportedly favors working with dissident elements inside and outside the Iraqi military, the Defense Department is said to favor working with the Iraqi National Congress (INC), a coalition of opposition groups ranging from monarchists to Kurdish nationals. The option that is eventually chosen will not just affect the internal situation in Iraq; it may also shape the future of U.S. foreign policy.
The recent Middle East Institute meetings were attended by ex-Iraqi military officers such as Najib Al-Salihi, a former chief of staff in the elite Republican Guard, and former Brig. Gen. Fawzi Al-Shamary, an important figure among mid-level Sunni Muslims. Several other former senior Iraqi officers accepted the invitation but could not get visas in time.
U.S. attendees included Middle East Institute President Edward S. Walker Jr., who was the State Department's top Middle East official in the Clinton administration, and Whitley Bruner, a former CIA chief of station in Iraq. Also on hand was Michael Eisenstadt, an Arab military specialist on temporary assignment to the U.S. Central Command.
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(Story Source)
(c) 2002 Stratfor, Inc.
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Dan
The Iraq Problem: U.S. Foreign Policy in the Balance . . .