Three University professors joined together Tuesday night to lead “The Invasion — One Year After: Continuing Challenges to the Quest for Stability and Security,” a two-hour conversation examining the effects the war is having on perceptions of the United States abroad.
The panel, sponsored by the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, included University law Professor Ibrahim Gassama, University geography Professor Alexander Murphy and University International Studies Professor Anita Weiss.
“In retrospect, those that opposed the invasion of Iraq and its occupation were insufficiently pessimistic,” Gassama said in his opening statement.
“The intervention in Iraq … can be described as a perfect failure.”
Gassama, who spoke first and primarily on Iraq, offered three conclusions about the Iraq situation to the audience in Room 175 of the Knight Law Center.
First, Gassama argued the Iraq situation “already exceeds the worst fears of those who argued that this was the wrong way to fight terrorism, the wrong way to enhance U.S. influence … or to build the most secure domestic or international environments.”
Gassama characterized the ongoing occupation as a “glorious mess” as American and Iraqi death tolls rise daily. He warned that the administration’s concessions of power in the region are nothing but politically motivated shams.
“Nothing will change except titles,” Gassama said, concerning the administration’s current plan to turn over control to the Iraqis in less than 90 days. “These people are on a mission to transform the world.”
Gassama ended his discussion by warning Democrats that a simple regime change in America won’t immediately change the world’s opinion of the country.
“A bad policy is a bad policy is a bad policy,” Gassama said. “A political solution is the only way out.”
Murphy examined the Bush administration’s dealings with Iran. Lumping Iran in the “axis of evil” with Iraq and North Korea was akin to “screaming we know nothing of the complexities of the world,” Murphy said.
He said our current administration is creating a “climate of mutual hostility.”
Weiss, a specialist on Pakistan, spoke primarily on that country’s reaction to the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. She too noted that increased American imperialism has led to anti-American sentiment in foreign countries.
Weiss echoed Murphy’s statements that the Unite State’s current policies strengthen the opposition.
“Support for Osama bin Laden has risen since our invasion of Iraq,” Weiss said.
Also damaging in terms of long-term relations with Pakistan is the emergence of religious schools, Weiss said. The current government is investing much of the nation’s resources on nuclear weapons programs (with U.S. approval) instead of investing in its people, she said.
“The best America offers the world is not … its military prowess,” said a concerned Gassama. “But in the way America sets an example as a way a diverse nation … can struggle to work for a common future.”