Washington, DC -- Today, the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee continued its exploration of alternative strategies for the war in Iraq.  Dr. Stephen Biddle of the Council on Foreign Relations and Dr. Andrew Krepinevich of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment were joined by Michael Eisenstadt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Lawrence Wilkerson, Visiting Professor at the College of William and Mary, for a discussion of how recent changes on the ground in Iraq and in the region should impact U.S. strategic decision making. 

 “I was particularly surprised by the fact that so much of a hearing devoted to consideration of strategies for Iraq revolved around the problems in our U.S. government interagency relationships, and how addressing those problems will help the U.S. not only in Iraq and Afghanistan but with future challenges and opportunities as well,” said Chairman Vic Snyder (D-AR). 

 “We have seen some great progress and success in Iraq in the last six months.  I am pleased to have heard suggestions from experts on how to capitalize on recent developments and to produce some long-term momentum for the stabilization of a free and independent Iraq,” said Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO).

 Next Tuesday, the Subcommittee will hold a hearing to explore how the challenges experienced in standing up Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq and Afghanistan should inform interagency reform efforts and future U.S. government engagement in stabilization and reconstruction operations.  Expert witnesses will include Michèle Flournoy of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Ambassador Carlos Pascual of the Brookings Institution, Ambassador Barbara Bodine of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and Nora Bensahel of the RAND Corporation.

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