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Program Overview
- Hosts: Ray Suarez, Deborah Amos
- Length: 51 minutes
- Original Airdate: May 2009
"It's kind of like what Lou Holtz said when he coached Notre Dame football – we're not where we want to be, we're not where we need to be, but thank goodness we're not where we used to be."
– Lt. General Frank Helmick
Where the US used to be in Iraq wasn’t pretty. Sectarian violence had exploded into what was essentially a civil war. Yet, through perseverance, policy changes, and plain old good luck, the situation today is dramatically different. Violence is down, and attitudes are perking up. But, in April, insurgents detonated a series of deadly reminders that they are still in business. And politically and economically Iraq is still pedaling with US training wheels. So, American forces can expect more than a few speed bumps on the long road out of Baghdad.
Segment 1: Ray Suarez investigates the state of the Iraqi Security Forces. Listen to this segment.
Guests: Lt. Colonel Michael Mammay, Task Force 4-27 Field Artillery; Lt. Brett Welner, a platoon leader in Blackjack Company in Arab Jabour; Lt. General Frank Helmick, I Control MNSTC-I; Retired Lt. General Jim Dubik, Commander of the Multinational Security Transition Command from June 2007 through July 2008; and Mowaffuk Al Rubaie, Iraqi National Security Advisor.
Segment 2: Deborah Amos traces the turbulent history of governing Iraq. Listen to this segment.
Featuring Adeed Dawisha, author or Iraq: A Political History from Independence to Occupation and Professor of Political Science, Miami University, Ohio.
Segment 3: Ray Suarez looks back at the Bush Administration’s decision to change its strategy towards Iraq in 2007. Listen to this segment.
Guests: General Jack Keane; Meghan O’Sullivan, former Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan; Colonel Peter Mansoor, General David Petraeus’s former Executive Officer; and David Satterfield, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s advisor on Iraq.
Segment 4: Sean Carberry travels to Iraq to explore the challenges of providing electricity to power the Iraqi economy and promote stability in the country. Listen to this segment.
Guests: Fares Abu Jabar, a generator salesman in Iraq; Terry Barnich, Deputy Director of the Iraq Transition Assistance Office in the State Department; Tahseen Al Shakrey, spokesman for the Baghdad Security Plan; Raad Al Haz, of the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity.
Exiting Iraq / Executive Producer: Aaron Lobel / AAM Producers: Monica Bushman, Sean D. Carberry, Matt Ozug, Monica Villavicencio and Chris Williams / Interns: Megan Nemeh, Nadia Shairzay and Ann Thomas.
Additional Broadcasts
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- Winning the Peace
- Radio
What People are Saying
Having spent my year in Baghdad prior to retirement, I believe I am qualified to provide my two cents on the topic of leaving Iraq. The idea that we could occupy that part of the world and install a working government was a bad idea from the start. In our time there, the leadership on the ground has squandered untold billions to "War-Profiteers" and failed miserably at "Winning the hearts and minds" of the Iraqi people. Flying over Baghdad, many areas look like "Anywhere, USA" with people trying to get to/from work. On the ground, you see the destruction and endure the faces of fear and disgust from a civilization which knows life only by death and suffering. In their world, you get the respect and attention of others through dramatic events, the more horrific, the better. Did they want us to invade? No. We destroyed what was working and made things worse. Do they want us to leave? No. We are like the teacher on the playground, Al-Queda is the bully and Joe-Iraqi is the nerd. When we leave, they are going to get pummeled. True, bombings are way down. This could be due to the lack of munitions and our hindrance of their re-supply or that Al-Queda has not found every ammo dump we buried during the first Gulf War. We do have a long road ahead of us in terms of exiting Iraq. Billions of dollars in equipment and buildings will be left behind. As we leave, those who want us to stay will become agitated too, adding to our inability to identify friend from foe. The strength of our military has dwindled so we deploy our National Guard to Iraq under the guise of training, provide large sign-on bonuses and play a shell game to keep divisions from folding. If left alone, the Iraqis would be no different culturally today than they were in 1980 or 1 B.C. for that matter.
, 10 months ago
Your "Exiting Iraq" program was broadcast on WHYY this evening. I found it informative and thoughtful, as usual for NPR. I was troubled, however, at the lack of comments on the "first" Gulf War under George II. Your focus on recent activities under George III and Barack was reasonable, but I would have expected at least two or three minutes of commentary on the first war and lessons learned (or not learned). The listener comes away with no recollection that the first war ever took place.
, 9 months ago
