3 Questions: The Iraq invasion, 20 years later
MIT scholars discuss the history behind the war, lessons learned on state-building, and Iraq's current political outlook. Close Today marks the 20th anniversary of the United States-led invasion of Iraq. Code-named " Operation Iraqi Freedom " by the George W. Bush administration, the goal was to eliminate weapons of mass destruction, topple Saddam Hussein, and remake Iraq into a democracy. Two decades later, U.S. troops are still on Iraqi soil and that nation is ravaged by challenges, including a threat of civil war last August. To mark the anniversary, Steven Simon , the Robert E Wilhelm Fellow at the MIT Center for International Studies; Peter Krause PhD '11, an MIT Security Studies Program research affiliate and an associate professor of political science at Boston College; and Marsin Alshamary PhD '20, an assistant professor at Boston College discuss the history behind the war, lessons learned on state-building, and Iraq's current political outlook. They, along with Roger Petersen , the Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science, will be speaking at a virtual MIT Starr Forum, The Iraq Invasion: Twenty Years Later , on March 24. Q: What lessons have political scientists learned from the Iraqi insurgency and the U.S. counterinsurgency campaign? Peter Krause: One of the first lessons political scientists learned is that that their analysis and predictions can be strikingly accurate, even when their opinions are contrary to those of policymakers and the general public.
