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With the collapse of Iraq’s Ba’thist government in 2003, the United States appeared to be in a position to shape the country’s political direction and establish a civil society. Despite Iraq’s record of serious political violence, especially Saddam Hussein’s repression of Kurdish and Shi’a populations at the end of the war with Iran and after the abortive rebellions of 1991, the turmoil had never taken the form of outright intersectarian warfare. There was at least some reason to hope that such warfare could be avoided in the post-Saddam transition as well, and indeed that was the case—for a while. Initially, the need for Kurd and Arab, Sunni and Shi’a, to establish bases of power and lines of authority in the nascent political process masked communal unease. Early attempts by Sunni extremists and renegade Ba’thists to provoke violence and civil war were unsuccessful. At that moment, America’s ability to influence nationbuilding and create a more equitable and secure country was at its greatest.

Document Type

Policy Brief

Publication Date

12-2007

Publication

Strategic Forum

Publisher

National Defense University Press

City

Washington, DC

After the Surge: Next Steps in Iraq?

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