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Release date: June 17, 2004 Emory Experts Address Iraqi Sovereignty
Contacts: Emory terrorism expert Larry Taulbee expects security to remain enormous problem before and after the June 30 transfer of sovereignty in Iraq. Keeping people from pursuing police and security work is part of the terror campaign there, says Taulbee, "so what we're not going to get on June 30 is a Western-style police force, but more of a palace guard with those kinds of skills." Having trained police forces in Iraqi communities, he adds, is still some time away. "People need to understand how fragile the concept of policing is," says Taulbee. "Even in this country there is sometimes tension between communities and police." As an example he points to ongoing training of security personnel in Bosnia, which has become a 10-year effort. Taulbee is a professor of political science specializing in terrorism, the history of mercenaries, international law and international security. Contact him at 404-727-6571 or psjt@emory.edu. **** Gordon Newby, professor of Middle Eastern studies, says the U.S. "is not handing a unified country to a group of people who are ready to take charge and rule. There is no sense of national unity as we think of it. The prognosis does not look good." Newby says the U.S. should have done more to address the issues of major factions, the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. "The Kurds have been acting semi-autonomous; the Shiites have been acting in an autocratic way. It's really hard to predict what will happen as a result of the handover. The country does not have in place institutions of Islamic democracy." Also problematic is replacing U.S. troops with a U.N. presence. "United Nations involvement would have its pros and cons," says Newby. "People of the Arab world, like Americans, have mixed views of the U.N. Some like it and some think it a terrible institution. The U.N. isn't a panacea." Newby is director of Emory's Institute for Comparative and International Study and author of "A Concise Encyclopedia of Islam" (2002). Contact him at 404-727-2717 or gdnewby@emory.edu. **** David Bederman, professor of international law at Emory, can discuss implications of the current disagreement between the Bush administration and European allies on the Iraqi debt, and implications of an Iraqi trial for Saddam Hussein, including historical precedents and possible punishment including the death penalty. Bederman, who has been a litigation consultant to the U.S. departments of justice, state, treasury and other federal agencies, served as legal advisor at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague. He also has successfully argued two recent cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Contact him at 404-727-6822 or lawdjb@law.emory.edu. **** Dan Reiter, Winship Research Professor of Political Science at Emory, can discuss the June 30 deadline's implications for U.S. foreign policy, the upcoming NATO meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, and future of NATO involvement in the region. Reiter, whose research includes how democracies wage and win wars, international sources of democratization, and democratic alliances, also can discuss potential terrorist backlash. He is the author of "Democracies at War." Contact Reiter at 404-727- 0111 or dreiter@emory.edu. **** Charles Shanor, a military and constitutional law expert at Emory, can discuss the ongoing legal questions surrounding the trial of Saddam Hussein. Shanor, who teaches a course on law and terrorism, also has been following and can comment on U.S. Supreme Court cases involving prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (Rasul vs. Bush; Al Odah vs. United States), as well as challenges to the Bush administration's detentions in Hamdi vs. Rumsfeld and Rumsfeld vs. Padilla. Contact Shanor at 404-727-6811 or cshanor@law.emory.edu. **** Kenneth Stein, Schatten Professor of Contemporary Middle Eastern and Israeli Studies, says the June 30 deadline represents a pivotal moment, and how Iraq is pasted or welded together will go a long way toward showing how the Middle East will move beyond autocracy. "Fifty years ago the Arab world would have been unified in condemnation of the West, but now there is a split. There is a lot of churn going on and I don't think much of the world realizes, or cares that it is going on." Stein directs the Middle East Research Center at Emory, and is a fellow of The Carter Center and has been an adviser to former President Jimmy Carter on Middle East affairs since 1983. Contact him at 404-727-2798 (days) or 404-252-0011 (evenings). **** See also Emory Experts Comments on What's Next for Saddam Hussein ###
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