Rick Barton     

 “Things are going to hell in Iraq, and even while we are up here releasing this report, there is a chance we might loose Iraq,” said Rick Barton, senior advisor in the International Security Program and co-director of the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Barton, who is one of 10 experts that make up the Iraq Study Group, had a simple message for students from Pace University, George Mason University and the University of Denver during a video conference session on Jan. 25.  The United States never had a plan to settle the peace issue in Iraq after initial success was made in the country, and the withdraw issue must be settled before further progress can be made, Barton said.

Barton addressed the many mistakes he perceives regarding the war in Iraq and U.S. presence overseas.  The Harvard graduate and former member of the Clinton administration says the United States got into this mess by taking action in a country that it really knew nothing about.

“We haven’t known anything and we’ve been extraordinarily decisive,” said Barton. “It’s a bad combination.”

Study Group Steps In

Barton stressed his disapproval with the Bush administration’s inability to plan accordingly and perform analysis of the situation.  This lack of analysis seems to be where Barton and the Iraq Study Group step in.  The group is made up of experts trained to analyze military issues, economic issues, post conflict reconstruction and social well being. 

“We have a balanced framework, we don’t just look at it from one view, but we look at the issues from many views, making sure it’s an integrated approach and integrated model,” Barton said.

Barton said that by September of 2002 he was able to predict that two things were coming.  He could see that the members of the current administration wanted a war in Iraq and that the administration would not have a plan developed to win the peace after the war. 

Right away, Barton and other members of CSIS started developing a peace plan for what would be a war-torn country.  The plan, called the Wiser Peace, is online at www.csis.org.  According to Barton, the suggestions in the Wiser Peace plan are being looked at by the Bush administration for the first time, which he says is scary.

This Issue? Withdraw

Barton said that most of the crossfire taking place in the United States and in Iraq regards the withdraw issue.  It is important for Prime Minister Maliki to take the withdraw issue off the table by setting the date himself, Barton said.

 “I think Rick Barton has a very clear understanding of the situation in Iraq and I think he is right on the money when he says that the withdrawal issue needs to be settled before anything else,” said Nadia Hajeer, a communication major at George Mason University.

If the prime minister of Iraq sets the date, Barton said it will give him more authority in his country and it will allow the United States to begin planning further tactics to get the situation in Iraq straightened out in a set period of time. 

According to Barton, until the question of Iraq continuing to be occupied by foreigners in the long term is settled, the political steps that must take place to make the best out of a bad situation will never happen.