Iraq Talk Draws Over Three Hundred Students

By Edward Wexler-Beron
Contributing Writer

A conservative speaker at Pomona criticizing the United States’ current policy in Iraq?

“I never would have expected to hear this viewpoint on Pomona’s campus,” said a surprised Zack Grieman, class of ’07.

Tuesday night at Edmunds ballroom, a crowd of over 300 students heard Danielle Pletka speak about her belief that the U.S. has missed multiple opportunities in rebuilding Iraq, and that we must rely more on the Iraqi people in our efforts to create a stable democracy there. Her speech was based on her opinion that the U.S. government made the correct decision to remove Saddam Hussein, a decision that should have been made in the first Gulf War.

Pletka is from the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank in Washington D.C., and has recently returned from a trip to Iraq. The Pomona Student Union (PSU) invited her to present her view on the current situation in Iraq.

“One of the goals of the PSU is to encourage deeper thought into our own positions by presenting us with arguments that we have not been forced to consider seriously before. I think for many of us, Pletka was successful in this regard,” said Scott Coleman ’05, a member of the PSU Executive Board.

Beginning with the background of Hussein’s regime, Pletka then discussed her view on the current situation of Iraq and its people. “Things are a hell of a lot better, and Iraqi citizens, in large part, will agree [with this],” she said.

She asserted that despite the U.S.’s success in Iraq, the government needs to change its reconstruction and governmental implementation policies. According to her, the U.S. has too often avoided making arrests due to our “gentility.” She faulted the U.S. military for not relying more on the Iraqi people for intelligence about Iraqi insurgents, and the Iraqi citizens are also wondering why they are not being asked to help more.

Politically, Pletka feels that the U.S. needs to be willing to turn control of the country over to the Iraqi people sooner rather than later. She said that if the U.S. did not give them responsibility now, not only would they not act responsibly, but they would also blame the U.S. when things went wrong. Although she feels there still needs to be a strong American presence to guide the country toward democracy, the U.S. needs to put more trust and faith in the Iraqi citizens.

Pletka held the Iraqi citizens in high standing, and was impressed with their self-restraint and general behavior in support of U.S. efforts. However, she pointed out that the Iraqi citizens place a higher priority on the speed at which conditions improve than on the quality of the improvements, something that she claims the U.S. government does not understand.

Although some students were disappointed with her public speaking skills (in her defense she admitted she hated giving speeches), others were impressed and surprised at what she presented.

“I did not expect what I got from her,” said Lauren Denny ’06. “I was expecting talk about the imminent threat Iraq posed to us instead of her speaking to us about the importance of America using its power to do good in the world.”