Speaker: Action in Iraq critical

‘ ‘ ‘ The next few weeks are critical to the future of Iraq, a speaker said Monday night. ‘ ‘ ‘… ‘ ‘ ‘ The next few weeks are critical to the future of Iraq, a speaker said Monday night. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Raed Jarrar, the Iraqi consultant for the peace and justice promoting American Friends Service Committee, spoke to about 50 people at the Frick Fine Arts Building. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Between changes in Iraq and America in the past few weeks, we have a completely different political map to work with,’ said Jarrar. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Jarrar cited a survey that found the majority of Iraqi people felt their nation would be better off without permanent U.S. bases in Iraq. Jarrar said the recent Status of Forces Agreement between the United States and Iraq calls for a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops by Dec. 31, 2011. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ President Obama has not yet announced that he would honor the agreement, but he did say he would withdraw all ‘combat troops’ in 16 months, said Jarrar. This would amount to less than half of the soldiers currently in Iraq. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Under former President George W. Bush, the agreement circumscribed the Senate approval required by the Constitution. This keeps the agreement from being binding to the U.S., said Jarrar. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘The U.S. needs to take a step back and let Iraqis figure it out for themselves. Iraq can never be rebuilt by its occupiers,’ said Jarrar. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Jarrar also attacked the assertion that the recent troop surge has worked. Resistance to occupation has shifted to more nonviolent methods, said Jarrar. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘There is not a single precedent for escalation of violence after U.S. or British troops withdrew from a province,’ said Jarrar. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The political divisions in Iraq are more complex than a Sunni-Shiite divide that most media assert, he said. The divisions and differences in Iraq are based more in political ideologies and economic differences, said Jarrar.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Jarrar began work with the American Friends Service Committee in 2003, when he collaborated on the only door-to-door survey of casualties conducted so far in the Iraq war. Since then, he has toured in the United States, speaking at various venues and lobbying on the committee’s behalf to U.S. legislators. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ After this lecture series, Jarrar intends to lobby for Senate approval of the Status of Forces Agreement.