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AAI in the News

House Votes US Should Leave Iraq Immediately

The Peninsula
Posted on Thursday December 15, 2005

Doha Debates discusses legitimacy of US invasion in bringing stability and security

DOHA: The Doha Debates held at the Qatar Foundation headquarters yesterday generated tremendous interest with participation of two American experts countering each other on the Iraq issue and some Iraqi students questioning the legitimacy of the US invasion of Iraq.

The motion ‘This House believes all foreign troops should leave Iraq immediately’ was passed with a majority, 69.5 per cent votes, while the remaining 30.5 per cent voted against.

Speaking for the motion were James J Zogby, founder and president of the Arab-American Institute based in Washington, and Reg Keys, father of a British soldier who was killed in Iraq in June 2003.

Raymond Tanter, who served as the senior staff of the US National Security Council and as personal representative of the US Secretary of Defence to arms control talks in Iraq in the Reagan-Bush administration, opposed the motion, along with Ali Al Bayati, consular general for the Iraqi embassy in London. The debate was hosted by former BBC presenter Tim Sebastian.

The first speaker, Zogby argued that US occupation of Iraq had betrayed the American values and as long as the US forces continue in Iraq, the credibility of the American administration would further erode, and insurgency in Iraq would gain more strength. He called for a “responsible” and “matured” withdrawal of American forces from Iraq within a six months period.

“Occupation is corrupting my country and its values. There was no plan (behind the invasion) then and there is no plan now,” he remarked. The occupation has now crossed 1,000 days and the huge loss of human lives on the American and Iraqi sides has not brought stability or security in the post-war Iraq. “ I don’t want the occupation to go into another 1,000 days,” he said.

He said the US forces should leave Iraq giving opportunity for countries in the region to play their due role in the political process as well as the reconstruction of the country.

In a later stage of the debate, Zogby was seen engaging in heated arguments with his American counterpart, Tanter, who strongly defended the Bush administration’s policies in Iraq.

Ali Al Bayati countered Zogby’s views saying that an American pullout from Iraq at this stage would aggravate the political vacuum and return the country to the pre-war situation. He maintained that the political process in Iraq was maturing and it will ultimately succeed in bringing stability and democracy. It is the constitutionally elected general assembly, which has to set a timeframe for withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq, he noted.

Reg Keys described the occupation, carried out by the US and the UK, as unlawful and built up on the big lie that Saddam had possessed weapons of mass destruction. “My son died for a lie, supported by own Prime Minister,” he said. “The occupation is a shame for my country,” he declared, amidst loud applause from the audience.

Tanter added on “the political vacuum’ theory, raised by Bayati. He argued that if the US leaves Iraq, other interested forces in the region like Iran and Syria would come forward to fill in the vacuum.

The speeches were followed by a lively question-answer session. The participants included two Iraqi students, who expressed their views responding to an invitation from Tim Sebastian. “The Americans should not leave Iraq until they repair the damage that they have made,” remarked one of them sarcastically.