"Iraq is not a problem that cropped up after September 11, 2001. It has festered for more than a decade, and reviewing that decade should remind some of the folly of a job half done," AEI vice president Danielle Pletka wrote in USA Today on January 15. "For as long as Saddam is in power, he will threaten the U.S. and the rest of the world."

AEI has taken a leading role in defining the threat that Saddam poses and outlining how Iraq should be reconstructed once he is removed.

In response to the crisis with Iraq, AEI has created a series of weekly briefings called "The Road to War." The briefings focus on topics such as the challenges faced by American soldiers during their mission to Baghdad, the relationship with Turkey's new Islamist government, and the effectiveness of America's plan for a better Iraq after Saddam.

Focusing not only on the war, but also its aftermath, AEI has held, since October, a monthly conference series titled "Post-Saddam Iraq," which has addressed the process of Iraq's potential transition to a democratic regime. At the first event of that series, AEI fellow Richard Perle stressed the importance of a regime change in Baghdad: "The liberation of Iraq, the removal of Saddam Hussein from power . . . can't stop with a short-term objective, however important, of removing from his hands the weapons of mass destruction," he insisted. "Can one imagine sending in the Chicago police to take Al Capone's weapons away, and leaving him there? Can anyone imagine that if the weapons of mass destruction were disgorged tomorrow, we could be confident with Saddam in place that we wouldn't face the same problem again?"

Post-Saddam Iraq series
Monday, March 3, 9:15-11:15 a.m.
http://www.aei.org/events/seriesID.6/series_detail.asp

The Road to War . . . and Beyond series
Every Tuesday until further notice
9:00-10:30 a.m.
http://www.aei.org/events/serieID.7/series_detail.asp

Also of interest
War on Terrorism webpage
http://www.aei.org/news/msgkey.2003011512441558,pageID.145/default.asp