Four experts on affairs in the Middle East convened in Silsby Hall Wednesday afternoon for a panel discussion concerning American foreign policy in the Middle East.
The panel included government professor Daryl Press, retired foreign service officer Dennis Goodman '60, Iraqi writer and Dartmouth Arabic instructor Sinan Antoon and Shelley Deane, a visiting assistant professor of government from Bowdoin College.
Antoon, who delivered his remarks first, chastised the Bush administration's policies towards the Middle East, calling members of the administration "arrogant and unwilling or even incapable" of learning from prior mistakes.
"One can no longer assume policymakers are interested in listening to critical voices," Antoon said.
American foreign policy in the Middle East has been very shortsighted, according to Antoon. He called for the United States to leave Iraq and give an international body such as the United Nations jurisdiction over reconstruction efforts.
Unlike Antoon, Goodman defended many of the Bush administration's policies. He cited the foreign policy stance of the United States prior to Sept. 11, 2001, as not being tough enough on terrorists, despite past attacks against American interests.
"We showed weakness to those who wished ill on us," Goodman said.
Goodman continued to defend the administration's actions, even on the issue of citing the presence of weapons of mass destruction as a justification for invading Iraq.
"I am still not entirely persuaded that chemical and/or biological weapons ... were not smuggled out of Iraq," Goodman said.
According to Goodman, the war is going well although there have been some setbacks, which are to be expected.
"Where to go from here? Pretty much just where we are going," Goodman said.
Deane, who discussed what America can learn from Iraq, began by presenting excerpts from a letter she received from Declan Lynch '03, a United States Marine currently stationed in Ramadi, Iraq.
"The need for Marines to treat every Iraqi as a potential threat makes it impossible to establish trust," Lynch wrote.
Deane used Lynch's letter to demonstrate the difficulty of the current situation in Iraq.
Lynch also wrote that the insurgency in Iraq lacks legitimacy -- a major advantage for U.S. troops. This lack of legitimacy, however, has certainly not made the job of American troops easier, according to Lynch.
"All we can do is prepare [the Iraqi Security Forces] and leave," Lynch wrote.
Press outlined five policy choices he felt would benefit the United States in bringing stability to the Middle East: a continuation of the war against al Qaeda, the removal of American forces from the Persian Gulf region to reduce American visibility in the area, a maintained naval presence in the Indian Ocean, a reevaluation of the amount of aid given to Israel and the training and build up of Iraqi Security Forces.
The discussion was sponsored by the Dickey Center and moderated by government professor Allan Stam.
