Georgetown Public Policy Review
Policy Shaping Our Future
Our nation is understandably weary of wars that have cost us dearly – both financially and in human casualties – and achieved little but to engender deep resentment of the US in many areas of the world. But it is naive to think that we can simply leave Iraq behind.
Iraq has largely slipped from the American public’s radar. The ongoing civil war in Syria and negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program have taken precedence, followed by deliberations on the United States’ long-term presence in Afghanistan and ongoing instability in Egypt, Lebanon, and Yemen. Given this country’s recent history with Iraq, the Iraqi government is facing a very different political climate in Washington when it asks for weapons sales, military training, and other US support.