Greetings from New York. Next week in Baghdad I will report on the rule of law, with a special focus on the status of the estimated 25,000 lawyers who work in Iraq, the civil courts and judiciary and the efforts of Americans who work with these Iraqi legal professionals on a daily basis.
We think these are timely and important issues to explore. One presidential candidate has said that the US armed forces should stay in Iraq as long as necessary; another has promised to quickly withdraw. Accepting the premise that a functioning, fair rule of law system is critical for any country that hopes to thrive as a democracy – what effect would a rapid withdrawal, or many more years of engagement, have on those institutions? Would the reconstruction teams, which rely on the military and civilian contractors for protection, continue to function if the US army were to leave? I hope to address these issues in future posts.
