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US - IRAQ WAR
Last updated on: 5/6/2009 6:34:00 AM PST US - Iraq War Home Page > Source Biographies > >James Dobbins

James Dobbins Biography

Title: Director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center in the National Security Research Division of RAND
Position: Not Clearly Pro or Con to the question "Should the US Have Attacked Iraq?"
Reasoning:
"I assumed that the administration and the U.S. military would have incorporated lessons from the '90s and taken the kind of preparatory steps that would have at least ameliorated many of the difficulties that eventually arose. I assumed, for instance, that there would be substantial numbers of military police and the forces that were available to move into the major cities immediately after the collapse of the regime. I assumed that they would anticipate that the regime's security apparatus would disintegrate... [and] that maintaining security would fall heavily on U.S. and coalition forces. I assumed that they would have prepared commanders to assume that responsibility, to take that responsibility early on.

These assumptions were incorrect. We didn't pre-position significant numbers of military police; we hadn't prepared commanders to assume responsibility for public security rapidly; and we didn't anticipate that the regime's security apparatus would disintegrate and become largely useless. I think we should have, because this is, broadly speaking, what had happened in each of the previous episodes over the last decade. But I think that the administration had chosen to look to a different set of models and a different set of experiences for inspiration, and I think that that misled them as to the difficulties they were likely to encounter."

"The Lost Year in Iraq; Interview: James Dobbins," Frontline, June 27, 2006
Theoretical Expertise Ranking:  Organizations/VIPs/Others
Individuals and organizations that do not fit into the other star categories.
Involvement and Affiliations:
  • Director, International Security and Defense Policy Center, National Security Research Division, RAND Corporation
  • Former Assistant Secretary of State for Europe
  • Former Special Assistant to the President for the Western Hemisphere
  • Former Special Adviser to the President and Secretary of State for the Balkans
  • Former Ambassador to the European Community
  • Former Special Envoy for Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo for the Clinton Administration
  • Former First Special Envoy for Afghanistan for the Bush Administration
  • Former Representative to the Afghan opposition in the wake of September 11, 2001 for the Bush Administration
  • Education:
  • BS, Georgetown School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, 1963
  • Other: None found
    Quoted in:
    • 1. Could regime change in Iraq promote the spread of democracy in the Middle East?
    US - Iraq War Homepage
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    13
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    Iraq Statements by US Vice President Cheney
    New Iraqi Flag Approved by Iraqi Lawmakers
    President Bush Announces Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended
    Remarks to the United Nations Security Council from US Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.
    Saddam Hussein Executed on December 30, 2006
    43rd US President Speaks to the United Nations General Assembly
    Oct. 2002 Congressional Votes Authorizing the President
    to Use Military Force Against Iraq
    Massive Reconstruction Waste in Iraq Says Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction
    2012 Presidential Candidates' Positions on US-Iraq War
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