ISIS in Iraq: The Dangers of an Unfocused Baghdad and a Disinterested White House

An independent research organization promoting new ideas for the advancement of global security, prosperity and freedom.Founded in 1961 by strategist Herman Kahn, Hudson Institute challenges conventional thinking and helps manage strategic transitions to the future through interdisciplinary studies in defense, international relations, economics, health care, technology, culture, and law.Hudson seeks to guide public policy makers and global leaders in government and business through a vigorous program of publications, conferences, and policy briefings and recommendations.Hudson Institute is a 501(c)(3) organization financed by tax deductible contributions from private individuals, corporations, foundations, and by government grants.

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<P STYLE="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 31px; font-family: Copernicus, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #191919; text-align: justify;">Current U.S. policy in Iraq fails to focus the political class in Baghdad on the need for Sunni enfranchisement. Without important political reforms, <SPAN CLASS="caps" STYLE="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">ISIS will continue to flourish in areas of disaffected Sunnis. And even if <SPAN CLASS="caps" STYLE="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">ISIS could be defeated in such an environment, neglecting the issues that led to its creation and growth will leave space for a new<SPAN CLASS="caps" STYLE="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">ISIS-like group to take root.
<P STYLE="margin: 0px 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 31px; font-family: Copernicus, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #191919; text-align: justify;">On June 10, Hudson Institute will host a panel discussion to assess current U.S. policy toward <SPAN CLASS="caps" STYLE="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">ISIS in Iraq and examine solutions going forward. Ambassador Feisal al-Istrabadi, a former Iraqi diplomat; Ret. Col. Richard Welch, a former U.S. Special Forces officer; and Dr. Denise Natali, a distinguished research fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, will join Hudson Adjunct Fellow Michael Pregent to discuss how to shape future policy.
 
<SPAN STYLE="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Michael Pregent is an adjunct fellow at Hudson Institute. He is a senior Middle East analyst and a visiting fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. Pregent is a former intelligence officer with more than 28 years of experience working security, terrorism, counter-insurgency, and policy issues in the Middle East, North Africa, and Southwest Asia. He served as an advisor to Iraq’s Security and Intelligence apparatus, including an embedded advisory role with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Office of the Commander-in-Chief. He also served as an embedded advisor with the Peshmerga in Mosul from 2005 to 2006.
<SPAN STYLE="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Ambassador Feisal al-Istrabadi is the founding director of the Center for the Study of the Middle East, a National Resource Center, at Indiana University Bloomington. From 2004 to 2010, Amb. al-Istrabadi served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Deputy Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations. Prior to his diplomatic appointment, he served as a legal advisor to the Iraqi Minister for Foreign Affairs. He was also principal legal drafter of Iraq’s interim constitution, the Law of Administration of the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period.
<SPAN STYLE="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Colonel Richard Welch, a retired Special Forces (Green Beret) Officer, served multiple tours during Operation Iraqi Freedom. His duties included civil-military liaison with Iraqi tribal, religious, government, and military leaders, and opening conflict resolution dialogue channels with insurgent groups. He continues to provide analysis to senior U.S. military leaders and diplomats on volatile, complex, and ambiguous situations in Iraq and Syria. Colonel Welch is a PhD Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Democracy at Indiana University Maurer School of Law.
<SPAN STYLE="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Denise Natali is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the National Defense University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies (<SPAN CLASS="caps" STYLE="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">INSS) where she specializes in the Middle East, trans-border Kurdish issues, regional energy security, and post-conflict state-building. Dr. Natali joined <SPAN CLASS="caps" STYLE="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">INSS in January 2011 as the Minerva Chair, following more than two decades of research and work in the Kurdish regions of Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria.
 
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