Colonel Michael J. Meese, Director Robert Chase, Megan Hoelle, Kirk W. Johnson, Ambassador Cynthia P. Schneider, Moderator Damian Bednarz and C. Eduardo Vargas

On Thursday, April 2, Intersections concluded its conversation series, “The Cost of War at Home & Abroad,” with a panel discussion, After the Surge: Ethical Exit Strategies From Iraq.

Panelists included Cynthia P. Schneider, former U.S. Ambassador to The Netherlands and Georgetown University faculty member; U.S. Army Col. Michael J. Meese, Ph.D.; and Kirk W. Johnson, The List Project founder and director. The conversation explored American strategies of withdrawing from Iraq while fulfilling political, military and humanitarian obligations.

“From the military perspective, the importance of the ethical withdrawal is to turn over security in a way that minimizes the chances of a return to sectarianism,” said Meese. For that reason, the military method is to “thin forces and continue to maintain transition teams.”

Johnson noted that some 3,000 Iraqis have contacted him in fear for their safety because they aided U.S. efforts. “I am praying and hoping that the people [developing the exit strategy] are taking into consideration what happens to these Iraqis who have helped us, because if we abandon them, I don’t see how we can ever claim any mantle of an ethical withdrawal,” he said.

“I think it’s so important that we define this beyond military security, that we define it in terms of a viable life for people in Iraq,” said Schneider. This means “economic development, education, adequate health care, water, power grid, electricity [and] restoration of their cultural institutions.”

The “Cost of War” series “raised awareness about how the global war on terror has impacted different sectors of our society in ways that people are unaware of,” said Eduardo Vargas, Intersections’ project manager.

To hear an audio recording of the presentation, please visit www.intersectionsinternational.org/costofwarlectures.

See below for a highlight video from this discussion.

On November 13th, Intersections hosted its fourth conversation exploring the cost of war, at home and abroad. Iraqi Voices featured three Iraqis who have been recently resettled to the United States. All three had worked with the US government during the early stages of the war, a choice that later marked them as targets, forcing them to leave family and country in order to seek safer ground. Moderated by Anisa Medhi, an award-winning journalist and filmmaker, the conversation provided an in-depth look at the many “costs” of the Iraq War, both personal and political.

To protect the identities of the Iraqis participating in our discussion, only their first names were used. Assad was a translator in Iraq, now living in Ithaca, NY, where he teaches Arabic at Ithaca College. Ameer has a Bachelors in English and is currently living with his family in Dearborn, MI. Ehab, who made it to the US with the help of the List Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies, now works with one of the law firms handling the immigration cases of Iraqi refugees.

All three shared stories of their desire to work with the Americans in 2003, as they believed they were helping to build a new life and brighter future for Iraqis. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned and as the occupation wore on with little of the promised improvements to infrastructure materializing and a continuing escalation of violence, Ehab, Ameer and Assad were in ever growing danger. “The Americans inherited Saddam’s position in the minds of the Iraqi people. So whatever happened in Iraq the Iraqi people blamed the United States for it, but then they couldn’t see the Americans, the Americans were behind the green zones, they could see me Ameer and Assad and we were very obvious…we were the collaborators, we were the ones making the Americans work in Iraq… So we were the ones to be blamed.”

Eventually all three made it safely out of Iraq, but not without significant hardship. Ehab’s journey took him more than a year and took him through India, Syria and Egypt before he made it to Arizona. Assad is still getting used to the snow in Ithaca, but is grateful for the warm reception he has received there. “I think they understand we have suffered a lot, we were very welcomed.”

While the future of Iraq is uncertain, all three Iraqis shared their hopes that their country will be rebuilt and that young people will feel like they have a future there. It is clear that this can not happen without the participation of the Iraqi people and that political realities and timelines for withdrawal are extremely complicated. In the meantime, America is deeply honored by all the Iraqis that risked so much in helping us and Intersections extends them a warm welcome.

To hear an audio recording of the presentation from this discussion, please visit us here.