First-Hand Views from Iraq

Today’s Iraq presents a confusing face to outsiders. It is a place of uncertainty and violence, as U.S.-led forces fight an escalating campaign against guerrilla fighters and terrorists. On the other hand, there are growing indications that the shattered country is slowly rebuilding: Iraq’s infrastructure is being revived, local councils are being elected, and Iraqi police are taking to the streets. The United States is also speeding up its efforts to arm and train Iraqi security forces. Under the new U.S. plan, the coalition will transfer power to an Iraqi provisional government by the summer of 2004.

To assess the recent developments, three experts who have recently returned from Iraq—a former UN weapons inspector and two Brookings foreign policy experts—will share their observations and discuss the future of U.S. policy. The panel will take questions from the audience following their presentations.

Moderated by:
Martin S. Indyk
Director, Saban Center for Middle East Policy and Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings

Panel:
Charles A. Duelfer
Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars

Michael E. O’Hanlon
Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings

Kenneth M. Pollack
Director of Research, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, and Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings

Tracking Reconstruction and Security in Post-Saddam Iraq: Iraq Index