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2010 Report on Human Rights in Iraq Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights // United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq Human Rights Office
Abstract: This report is published by the Human Rights Office of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq -UNAMI- in cooperation with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights -OHCHR- under their respective mandates. Information for this report has been gathered from direct monitoring by UNAMI as well as from a variety of other sources, including Government, UN Agencies, civil society, NGOs and media. It covers the period from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2010. The draft of this Report was submitted to the Government of Iraq and the Government of the Kurdistan Region prior to publication and their views are referred to in the text or footnoted where appropriate.
Abstract: Conflict continues to pose one of the biggest
threats to the survival, development and well being
of a significant number of children across the world.
In the past decade, 2 million children have died
directly as a result of conflict and 6 million have
been permanently disabled or seriously injured.
Explosive weapons were responsible for the death
and injury of thousands of children in a number of
conflicts in 2009, including Operation Cast Lead
in Gaza, the final stage of the war in northern
Sri Lanka, and the intensification of conflicts in
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. In these
latter four countries, as well as in the occupied
Palestinian territory and Iraq, the use of explosive
weapons continued through 2010. Children were
often the victims in these conflicts, with too little
attention paid to minimising the risk to them or to
ensuring that their fundamental human rights, such
as the right to life,were not violated.
As well as governments’ use of explosive weapons
in populated areas, recent decades have seen
a rising number of non state actors using more
sophisticated explosive weapons. For instance,
information leaked from Afghanistan indicates that
the Taliban has used shoulder launched surface to
air missiles, which are more technologically
advanced than the rocket propelled grenades they
frequently use. Improvised explosive devices
have also become more sophisticated and more
deadly over the past two decades.
Section 1 of this report describes the impact
of explosive weapons on children and their
communities. Section 2 outlines the international
human rights and legal framework that could
and should be implemented to protect children.
In Section 3, Save the Children proposes three
steps towards minimising the impact of explosive
weapons on children and makes recommendations
to the international community, governments and
non-governmental organisations.
Abstract: IKV Pax Christi strives to enhance the protection of civilians in conflict. In the report, IKV Pax Christi expresses her concern about the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
From relatively simple improvised explosive devices to advanced aircraft-delivered bombs and missiles, all explosive weapons share certain characteristics that make their use in populated areas especially dangerous for civilian populations. By projecting a blast wave and shrapnel, explosive weapons indiscriminately damage the area around the point of detonation, making no distinction between soldiers or civilians. Furthermore, explosive weapons can also destroy critical infrastructure and frequently pose a long-term risk to populations in the form of unexploded ordnance. For these and other reasons, the use of explosive weapons in populated areas urgently needs to be addressed.
The report provides an overview of recent debates on the use of these weapons, existing agreements in International Humanitarian Law, and the consequences of the use of these weapons for civilians when used in populated areas.
Abstract: The war in Iraq remains a critical aspect of US national security, and involves more vital US strategic interests than the conflict in Afghanistan. Estimates by the Energy Information Agency of the Department of Energy indicate that the US and global economy will not reduces their strategic dependence on the Gulf petroleum exports through 2035, and Iraq’s future alignments with the US will be critical to determining our ability to contain Iran and ensure the security of our Arab allies and Israel.
It is also clear that Iraq still has an uncertain capability to deal with its extremist and terrorist threats, deter any foreign threats and pressure, and limit the risk of new outbreaks of ethnic and sectarian violence without US aid. The fact that Iraq’s leadership has agreed to ask some US forces to stay is only one indication of the issues involved, and the problems that have been highlighted by other research centers like RAND and the ICG. Iraq still has broad needs for US aid and assistance, and it will be years before rises in its petroleum revenues will allow it to fully fund its internal security and development, and create military forces strong enough to ensure its security against neighbors like Iran.
The Burke Chair has developed a new series of summary briefings on on Iraq that highlight recent developments in the war, as well as trends in Iraq’s security, its politics and governance, its economy, and its security forces.
The three briefings in this series also provide an overview of developments in the Iraqi energy sector and the current capabilities and size of Iraqi security forces (ISF), and their dependence on aid. They summarize the cost of the war to date to the US, the patterns in the withdrawal of US forces, and current plans for the US military withdrawal from Iraq. They also provide a summary of plans for a US State Department-led effort to create a strategic partnership with Iraq under the Strategic Framework Agreement.
The briefs include the following documents:
Iraq in Transition: Security, Iraqi Forces, and US Security Aid Plans . This brief highlights the timelines and history that have shaped Iraq since the US invasion in 2003. It also highlights the fact that violence in Iraq remains a major problem, and that there are still serious limits to the capabilities of Iraq’s security forces and there is a need for continued US security assistance.
Iraq in Transition: Governance, Politics, Economics, and PetroleumIraq in Transition: Governance, Politics, Economics, and Petroleum. This brief warns that Iraq still lacks effective governance, its politics remain highly unstable and threaten the success of a truly democratic government, and that its economy will need years of development to rescue the bulk of its people from poverty and fund a stable path towards development.
Iraq in Transition: US Transition Plans and Aid. This brief summarizes current US transition plans, the history of international and US aid flows, and the problems and successes in the US aid effort. It warns of the future difficulties the US will face in making aid effective, particularly as it shifts to a much lower profile of aid in governance and economics with minimal funding.
Abstract: The war in Iraq remains a critical aspect of US national security, and involves more vital US strategic interests than the conflict in Afghanistan. Estimates by the Energy Information Agency of the Department of Energy indicate that the US and global economy will not reduces their strategic dependence on the Gulf petroleum exports through 2035, and Iraq’s future alignments with the US will be critical to determining our ability to contain Iran and ensure the security of our Arab allies and Israel.
It is also clear that Iraq still has an uncertain capability to deal with its extremist and terrorist threats, deter any foreign threats and pressure, and limit the risk of new outbreaks of ethnic and sectarian violence without US aid. The fact that Iraq’s leadership has agreed to ask some US forces to stay is only one indication of the issues involved, and the problems that have been highlighted by other research centers like RAND and the ICG. Iraq still has broad needs for US aid and assistance, and it will be years before rises in its petroleum revenues will allow it to fully fund its internal security and development, and create military forces strong enough to ensure its security against neighbors like Iran. The Burke Chair has developed a new series of summary briefings on on Iraq that highlight recent developments in the war, as well as trends in Iraq’s security, its politics and governance, its economy, and its security forces.
The three briefings in this series also provide an overview of developments in the Iraqi energy sector and the current capabilities and size of Iraqi security forces (ISF), and their dependence on aid. They summarize the cost of the war to date to the US, the patterns in the withdrawal of US forces, and current plans for the US military withdrawal from Iraq. They also provide a summary of plans for a US State Department-led effort to create a strategic partnership with Iraq under the Strategic Framework Agreement.
The briefs include the following documents:
Iraq in Transition: Security, Iraqi Forces, and US Security Aid Plans . This brief highlights the timelines and history that have shaped Iraq since the US invasion in 2003. It also highlights the fact that violence in Iraq remains a major problem, and that there are still serious limits to the capabilities of Iraq’s security forces and there is a need for continued US security assistance.
Iraq in Transition: Governance, Politics, Economics, and Petroleum. This brief warns that Iraq still lacks effective governance, its politics remain highly unstable and threaten the success of a truly democratic government, and that its economy will need years of development to rescue the bulk of its people from poverty and fund a stable path towards development.
Iraq in Transition: US Transition Plans and Aid. This brief summarizes current US transition plans, the history of international and US aid flows, and the problems and successes in the US aid effort. It warns of the future difficulties the US will face in making aid effective, particularly as it shifts to a much lower profile of aid in governance and economics with minimal funding.
Abstract: The war in Iraq remains a critical aspect of US national security, and involves more vital US strategic interests than the conflict in Afghanistan. Estimates by the Energy Information Agency of the Department of Energy indicate that the US and global economy will not reduces their strategic dependence on the Gulf petroleum exports through 2035, and Iraq’s future alignments with the US will be critical to determining our ability to contain Iran and ensure the security of our Arab allies and Israel.
It is also clear that Iraq still has an uncertain capability to deal with its extremist and terrorist threats, deter any foreign threats and pressure, and limit the risk of new outbreaks of ethnic and sectarian violence without US aid. The fact that Iraq’s leadership has agreed to ask some US forces to stay is only one indication of the issues involved, and the problems that have been highlighted by other research centers like RAND and the ICG. Iraq still has broad needs for US aid and assistance, and it will be years before rises in its petroleum revenues will allow it to fully fund its internal security and development, and create military forces strong enough to ensure its security against neighbors like Iran. The Burke Chair has developed a new series of summary briefings on on Iraq that highlight recent developments in the war, as well as trends in Iraq’s security, its politics and governance, its economy, and its security forces.
The three briefings in this series also provide an overview of developments in the Iraqi energy sector and the current capabilities and size of Iraqi security forces (ISF), and their dependence on aid. They summarize the cost of the war to date to the US, the patterns in the withdrawal of US forces, and current plans for the US military withdrawal from Iraq. They also provide a summary of plans for a US State Department-led effort to create a strategic partnership with Iraq under the Strategic Framework Agreement.
The briefs include the following documents:
Iraq in Transition: Security, Iraqi Forces, and US Security Aid Plans. This brief highlights the timelines and history that have shaped Iraq since the US invasion in 2003. It also highlights the fact that violence in Iraq remains a major problem, and that there are still serious limits to the capabilities of Iraq’s security forces and there is a need for continued US security assistance.
Iraq in Transition: Governance, Politics, Economics, and Petroleum. This brief warns that Iraq still lacks effective governance, its politics remain highly unstable and threaten the success of a truly democratic government, and that its economy will need years of development to rescue the bulk of its people from poverty and fund a stable path towards development.
Iraq in Transition: US Transition Plans and Aid. This brief summarizes current US transition plans, the history of international and US aid flows, and the problems and successes in the US aid effort. It warns of the future difficulties the US will face in making aid effective, particularly as it shifts to a much lower profile of aid in governance and economics with minimal funding.
Abstract: The recent political upheavals in the Middle East and North Africa region have exposed growing concerns about conflict risk, political stability, and reform prospects across its societies. Given the prevalence of oil and gas resource endowments in the region, which a voluminous literature suggests can be associated with adverse development consequences, this paper examines the interplay between their associated rents and political economy trajectories. The contribution of the paper is threefold: first, to examine the quantitative evidence of violent conflict in the region since 1960; second, to provide a nuanced review of the regional case study literature on the relationship between resource endowments, political stability, and conflict risk; and third, to assess how prospective political transitions have implications for the World Bank Group's work in the region on public sector management and private sector development. The authors find that resources and regimes have intersected to provide stability and limited violent conflict in the region, but that these development patterns have yielded a set of policy choices and development patterns that are proving increasingly brittle and unsustainable. A major institutional challenge for reforms will be to consolidate a requisite degree of inter-temporal credibility and stability in these regimes, while expanding inclusiveness in state-society relations.
Abstract: The Combating Terrorism Center is an
independent educational and research
institution based in the Department of social
sciences at the United states Military Academy,
West point. The CTC sentinel harnesses
the Center’s global network of scholars and
practitioners to understand and confront
contemporary threats posed by terrorism and
other forms of political violence.
Abstract: The Iraq Index is a statistical compilation of economic, public opinion, and security data. This resource will provide updated information on various criteria, including crime, telephone and water service, troop fatalities, unemployment, Iraqi security forces, oil production, and coalition troop strength.
The index is designed to quantify the rebuilding efforts and offer an objective set of criteria for benchmarking performance. It is the first in-depth, non-partisan assessment of American efforts in Iraq, and is based primarily on U.S. government information. Although measurements of progress in any nation-building effort can never be reduced to purely quantitative data, a comprehensive compilation of such information can provide a clearer picture and contribute to a healthier and better informed debate.
Michael O'Hanlon spearheads the Iraq Index project at Brookings, with assistance from Senior Research Assistant Ian S. Livingston. O'Hanlon is a Foreign Policy Studies senior fellow and served on a U.S. government delegation to Iraq to review post-war progress.
Abstract: The present report was prepared pursuant to Security Council resolutions 1612
(2005) and 1882 (2009). It is the first report on the situation of children and armed
conflict in Iraq to be presented to the Security Council and its Working Group on
Children and Armed Conflict. It covers the period from January 2008 to December
2010.
The report highlights trends and patterns of grave violations committed against
children in the context of the continuing conflict in Iraq, such as the recruitment and
use of children; including use of children as suicide bombers, the killing and
maiming of children and attacks on schools and hospitals. The report also identifies
parties to the conflict responsible for such grave violations.
The report appreciates the security challenges facing the United Nations and
child protection stakeholders in Iraq, and notes that access to affected populations
and children for monitoring and verification purposes was not consistent. The report
welcomes the efforts of the Government of Iraq to address some of the child
protection concerns during the reporting period. The report also highlights areas for
advocacy and response, and concludes with a series of recommendations to all
parties in order to address remaining challenges and further enhance child protection.
Abstract: The war if Iraq has received only limited attention in the US media and various research centers over the last year. It remains, however, a critical aspect of US national security, and involves more vital US strategic interest than the conflict in Afghanistan.
This report provides an overview of the political, security, and economic developments in Iraq, as well as developments in the Iraqi energy sector and shifts in international and US aid to Iraq. It summarizes the current capabilities and size of Iraqi security forces (ISF), and their dependence on aid.
It also summarizes the cost of the war to date to the US, the patterns in the withdrawal of US forces, and current plans for the US military withdrawal from Iraq. A separate sections summarizes plans for US State Department-led effort to create a strategic partnership with Iraq under the Strategic Framework Agreement.
Abstract: Understanding how insurgencies may be brought to a successful conclusion is vital to military strategists and policymakers. This study examines how past insurgencies have ended and how current ones may be resolved. Four ways in which insurgencies have ended are identified. Clear-cut victories for either the government or the insurgents occurred during the era of decolonization, but they seldom happen today. Recent insurgencies have often degenerated into criminal organizations that become committed to making money rather than fighting a revolution, or they evolve into terrorist groups capable of nothing more than sporadic violence. In a few cases, the threatened government has resolved the conflict by co-opting the insurgents. After achieving a strategic stalemate and persuading the belligerents that they have nothing to gain from continued fighting, these governments have drawn the insurgents into the legitimate political process through reform and concessions. The author concludes that such a co-option strategy offers the best hope of U.S. success in Afghanistan and in future counterinsurgency campaigns.
Abstract: Founded in October 2004, al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) emerged from a transnational
terrorist group created and led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The original iteration
of the group, Bayat al Imam, began in Jordan in the early 1990s. The group
first associated with al Qaeda’s senior leadership in 1999 and fought alongside
al Qaeda core and the Taliban during the U.S. strikes in Afghanistan in late
2001. Shortly after, the group transferred to Iraq in anticipation of the U.S.-led
invasion. From 2003 through 2007, the group galvanized the Iraqi insurgency
until its high-profile, divisively brutal tactics and failure to deliver meaningful
gains to its nominal constituents led to a reversal in its popularity. The death
of Zarqawi in 2006 has been followed with a series of successful counterterror
strikes against his successors. Nonetheless, the group has proven resilient and
though its activities are greatly diminished since its operational peak in 2007, it
has proven still capable of carrying out high-profile attacks, particularly against
soft targets.
Abstract: Valentine M. Moghadam looks at feminist insights into
violence, conflict, peacebuilding, and women’s rights, as well as
developments in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine, to make the case
for the involvement of women and the integration of gender into all
phases of conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction and
governance.
Abstract: The anticipated U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq by year's end will constitute a major test for the Iraqi Security Forces. Beyond the immediate operational challenges of maintaining internal security, combating terrorism, and securing the borders against smuggling and foreign incursions, the ISF will face numerous long-term institutional challenges related to training, equipment, civil-military relations, corruption, and politicization.
To discuss these issues and their potential impact on Iraq's stability, The Washington Institute invited Michael Knights, Lachlyn Soper, Maj. Andrew Lembke, and Barak Salmoni to address a special Policy Forum on June 3, 2011.
Due to technical error, Mr. Salmoni's remarks, along with the audience Q&A; session, was not recorded.
Michael Knights is a Lafer fellow with The Washington Institute, specializing in the military and security affairs of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Yemen, and the Gulf Arab states. Author of the Institute Policy Note 'The Iraqi Security Forces: Local Context and U.S. Assistance', he earned his doctorate at the Department of War Studies, King's College London, with a dissertation on U.S. no-fly zones and air operations against Iraq.
Lachlyn Soper is a social scientist for the U.S. Army Human Terrain System at Fort Leavenworth. Between November 2009 and December 2010, she was embedded at U.S. Division-Center in Baghdad, where she produced detailed assessments of the Sons of Iraq militias and the ISF. Previously, she worked for a human rights organization in Cairo and served with the UN Relief and Works Agency in Damascus and the West Bank. Ms. Soper holds a master's degree in public administration from Princeton University.
Maj. Andrew Lembke is an infantry officer in the U.S. Army. He has completed four overseas combat tours since 2001, including three in Iraq, where he served as a military transition team leader with an Iraqi Army brigade, a Stryker company commander (twice), and a staff officer with U.S. Division-Center in Baghdad. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, he currently serves as an instructor at the Army's Counterinsurgency Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Barak Salmoni, a former visiting defense fellow at The Washington Institute, serves as a culture and foreign language advisor with the U.S. Army. Author of the just-published Institute Policy Focus 'Responsible Partnership: The Iraqi National Security Sector after 2011', he previously worked at the RAND Corporation. In addition, he founded the U.S. Marine Corps Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning and worked with American forces in Iraq on five occasions from 2004 to 2008.
1. Since the fall of the former regime, in 2003, there has been continuous concern that fighting might break out between the Arabs and the Kurds over Kirkuk and the boundary of the Kurdistan Regional Government.
2. In response to requests to help manage tensions between the different security forces, General Odierno, then Commanding General of United States Forces-Iraq, developed a Joint Security Architecture, bringing together Iraqi Security Forces, Kurdish forces, and US forces to work against their common enemy, the al-Qaeda.
3. US forces are due to start pulling out of their conflict prevention role along the ‘trigger line’ that divides the Kurds and the Arabs in the disputed territories, by the summer of 2011. Unless new conflict prevention mechanisms are put in place, there is a real risk that tensions could boil over as people tire of waiting for a political resolution.
About this Brief:
This PeaceBrief is written by Emma Sky, a fellow at the Institute of Politics, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. She was the chief political advisor to then United States Forces-Iraq Commanding General, Raymond Odierno, from 2008 to 2010.
Abstract: The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), signed in 2008 by outgoing President George W. Bush and
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, requires the U.S. military to completely withdraw from Iraq
no later than December 31, 2011. However, Iraq is failing to maintain internal security, continues
to experience serious external defense deficiencies, and has unresolved political disagreements that
could threaten stability. The national security interests of the United States and Iraq require extending
the SOFA and retaining a smaller but still substantial U.S. military footprint in Iraq. The U.S.
has signaled its willingness to extend its presence if requested by Iraq. Although Iraq’s leaders increasingly
recognize the necessity of extending the Status of Forces Agreement to permit U.S. military
involvement beyond 2011, political obstacles have precluded them from initiating a domestic debate
on extending the SOFA. As a result, it is necessary for the United States to take on a proactive and
leading role when engaging with Iraq’s leaders, and to communicate the importance and value of a
new security agreement.
Abstract: In the decade since 9/11, the U.S. government
has pursued a national security policy that has been
exceedingly costly in blood and treasure. There are no indications that our national security
policies will change in the near future. Within
a day of announcing that it found and killed al
Qaeda head Osama bin Laden, the Obama administration
maintained that the war on terrorism
would continue.
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been the
most expensive and deadly for the United States
since the Cold War, and in particular since Vietnam.
Many Americans saw this as a consequence
of the particular policy approach taken by the
George W. Bush administration, and many expected
that the trajectory of U.S. foreign policy,
especially in Iraq but also in general terms, would
change incontrovertibly, if not completely, once
Barack Obama became president and had time
to implement his changes. Now, more than two
years into Obama’s presidency, it is time to examine
the new administration’s record in Iraq and
Afghanistan and its general approach to foreign
policy and the war on terrorism. In doing so, we
should compare what has happened to what was
promised, as well as to what was undertaken during
the last administration.
Abstract: Russia and Mexico, two of the world’s most murderous countries for the press, are heading in different directions in combating deadly anti-press violence, the Committee to Protect Journalists has found in its newly updated Impunity Index. The index, which calculates unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country’s population, found improvement in Russia as journalist murders ebbed and prosecutors obtained two high-profile convictions. But deadly anti-press violence continued to climb in Mexico, where authorities appear powerless in bringing killers to justice.
Colombia continued a years-long pattern of improvement, CPJ’s index found, while conditions in Bangladesh reflected a slight upturn. But the countries at the top of the index—Iraq, Somalia, and the Philippines—showed either no improvement or even worsening records. Iraq, with an impunity rating three times worse than that of any other nation, is ranked first for the fourth straight year. Although crossfire and other conflict-related deaths have dropped in Iraq in recent years, the targeted killings of journalists spiked in 2010.
“The findings of the 2011 Impunity Index lay bare the stark choices that governments face: Either address the issue of violence against journalists head-on or see murders continue and self-censorship spread,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “Convictions in Russia are a hopeful sign after years of indifference and denial. But Mexico’s situation is deeply troubling, with violence spiking as the government promises action but fails to deliver.”
CPJ’s annual Impunity Index, first published in 2008, identifies countries where journalists are murdered regularly and governments fail to solve the crimes. For this latest index, CPJ examined journalist murders that occurred between January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2010, and that remain unsolved. Only the 13 nations with five or more unsolved cases are included on the index. Cases are considered unsolved when no convictions have been obtained.
Impunity is a key indicator in assessing levels of press freedom and free expression in nations worldwide. CPJ research shows that deadly, unpunished violence against journalists often leads to vast self-censorship in the rest of the press corps. From Somalia to Mexico, CPJ has found that journalists avoid sensitive topics, leave the profession, or flee their homeland to escape violent retribution.
Abstract: Iraqis live in a tough region. Although none of
their neighbors have been designing military
forces specifically to target them, general tensions
in the region and among Iran, Israel, and Western
powers have led to the maintenance of regional
conventional militaries that pose a significant
threat to Iraq with its current armed forces, configured
as they are exclusively for internal security
missions. Those missions are made much more
daunting by Iran’s continued support for—and use
of—armed proxy groups to influence Iraqi decision
making and pursue Iranian interests. Even
the task of keeping sufficient pressure on al Qaeda
in Iraq and other Sunni revanchist groups will
strain the Iraqi military if it has little or no external
support.
Iraq’s military weakness will threaten American
interests in one of two ways. Either Iraq will remain
so weak that the internal security and, ultimately,
political gains made since 2006 will be jeopardized,
leading to the prospect of renewed communal
conflict and the reemergence of militant Islamist
groups, or Iraq will engage in a military buildup that
in itself will be destabilizing in an already unstable
region. The Iraqi Security Forces will not be able to
defend Iraq’s sovereignty, independence from Iran,
and internal stability without American assistance,
including some ground forces in Iraq, for a number
of years. The negotiation of a security agreement
extending the presence of US forces in Iraq beyond
the end of 2011 is thus an urgent national security
priority for the United States and Iraq.
Abstract: Popularised as a result of the so-called surge in Iraq, the concept of counterinsurgency has since experienced a marked decline, mostly due to the difficulties of implementing its core principles in Afghanistan. Across the United States and Europe, counterinsurgency now seems to be on its way out, as a concept to be studied and as a priority to inform policy.
This article examines the value of retaining counterinsurgency as a concept, along with its associated principles and theory. Much depends on what is expected from this term, which lacks both definition and clear substance. Counterinsurgency provides neither a strategy for military intervention nor a campaign plan for deployed soldiers and will fail if mistaken for more than what it is. Counterinsurgency does offer a collection of insights, which, if used in a manner sensitive to local context, can help in the design and execution of expeditionary campaigns. These insights are often largely commonsensical but have nonetheless played an important role in challenging previously dominant misconceptions about the nature of war and peace, both in Europe and the United States.
Abstract: Foreign fighters fuel the world’s conflicts. They
make conflicts more costly for host nations and
peacekeepers. These extremists come from all over
the world and believe they need to fight for their
ideological survival. The best way to combat the
use of foreign fighters is to stop them as close to the
source as possible. This can be difficult, especially if
the U.S. is lacking diplomatic, informational, military,
and economic relations with the source country.
The U.S. government, especially military and
political agencies, needs to be aware of the foreign
fighter phenomenon and plan for it when developing
new contingency and campaign plans as well as
further developing bilateral and regional relationships
in foreign fighter source and transit countries.
This paper will discuss and highlight, from the
national security perspective, the potential military
actions for interdicting foreign fighters. The foreign
fighter problem set, terminology, and life cycle are
defined and discussed. Foreign fighters in current
conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan/Pakistan, and Somalia
are discussed as well. Finally, potential solutions
are introduced as well as actions the U.S. military
can take to stem the flow of foreign fighters within
stability operations framework.
Abstract: Iraq’s political system is increasingly characterized by peaceful competition and formation of
cross-sectarian alliances, although ethnic and sectarian infighting continues, sometimes involving
the questionable use of key levers of power and legal institutions. This infighting—and the belief
that holding political power may mean the difference between life and death for the various
political communities—significantly delayed agreement on a new government that was to be
selected following the March 7, 2010, national elections for the Council of Representatives
(COR, parliament). With U.S. diplomatic intervention, on November 10, 2010, major ethnic and
sectarian factions agreed on a framework for a new government, breaking the long deadlock.
Their agreement, under which Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki serves a second term, was
implemented in the formation of a broad-based cabinet on December 21, 2010.
The participation of all major factions in the new government was considered stabilizing
politically and created some political momentum to act on key outstanding legislation crucial to
attracting foreign investment, such as national hydrocarbon laws. The new government took
action on some long-stalled initiatives, including year-long tensions over Kurdish exports of oil.
However, the lack of a broader and sustained focus on governance, or on improving key services,
such as electricity, created popular frustration that manifested as protests since February 2011.
Political schisms, aggravated by the political unrest, could still cause serious instability. Sunni
Arab fears that Maliki and his Shiite allies seek to monopolize power remain, as do the concerns
of the Kurds that Maliki will not honor pledges to resolve Kurd-Arab territorial and financial
disputes. There are significant tensions between Sunni Arabs and the Kurds over territory and
governance in parts of northern Iraq, particularly Nineveh Province. Some Iraqi communities,
including Christians, are not necessarily at odds with the government but they have been targeted
by insurgent attacks in late 2010 and early 2011. Still, the overall human rights situation in Iraq
appears to remain at levels vastly improved from those at the height of sectarian conflict (2006-
2008).
These splits cloud the approaching completion of a U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq at the end
of 2011, in keeping with a 2008 U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement. U.S. forces have dropped to
47,000, from a 2008 high of 170,000, with the formal end of the U.S. combat mission on August
31, 2010. Continuing high profile attacks, although sporadic and relatively infrequent, have
caused some experts to question whether security will deteriorate to the point where Iraq becomes
a “failed state” after 2011, unless Iraq requests the continued presence of U.S. forces after that
time.
Abstract: This report reviews the challenges facing returning refugees
and internally displaced persons after protracted conflict,
questioning the common wisdom that the solution to
displacement is, in almost all cases, to bring those uprooted
to their places of origin, regardless of changes in the political,
economic, psychological, and physical landscapes. While
affirming the right to return, the report underscores insecurity,
lack of economic opportunities, and poor services generally
available in areas of recent conflict where people are expected
to rebuild their lives, documenting cases of seriously flawed
return efforts. Greater flexibility in determining the best
solutions to displacement and more investment in
alternative forms of reintegration for those who
have been displaced is needed.
