The U.S Legacy in Iraq Depends on the Depth of American engagement with Iraq in 2012 and beyond
The U.S. legacy in Iraq will depend on whether it remains strategically engaged with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region after 2012, Qubad Talabani, the Kurdistan Regional Governments Representative to the United States, told students, faculty and guests at Missouri State University (MSU), Springfield, Mo.
“After much sacrifice and toil, on both the US and Iraqi sides, tangible progress is being made in Iraq,” Talabani said. “After a laborious government formation process, Iraq has an elected government, and while far from perfect, it is a government formed with support from an unprecedentedly plural and representative parliament.”
During the April 6 talk, organized by Professor David Romano, the Thomas G. Strong Professor of Middle East Politics at MSU and author of ‘The Kurdish Nationalist Movement’, Talabani described the development of Iraq’s new emerging identity and highlighted the significant process of democratization and economic development in the Kurdistan Region.
Citing US protection to Kurdistan in 1992, and subsequently the Kurdistan Region’s political and economic boom after the liberation of Iraq, Talabani said the United States should be proud of the many developments it has been involved in with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. “No doubt, it is inscribing a positive legacy throughout much of the country.” he said.
Crucially, however, Talabani warned that given the many challenges facing Iraq, the US can only define its legacy as a lasting and successful one “if it remains actively engaged with us, in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, politically, economically and even militarily during the coming years.” He ended by stressing “Democracies don’t develop over night, yours didn’t.”
The lecture was followed by a question and answer session that touched on a wide range of topics, including the protests sweeping across the Middle East to details regarding the development of the Kurdistan Region’s private sector.
Tagged in: democracy, Iraqi Kurdistan, KRG, Kurdish democracy, Kurdistan, Kurdistan economy, Kurdistan investment, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Kurdistan Regional Government, Missouri State University, Qubad Talabani, U.S. diplomacy, U.S. troops and Iraq
