Panel discussion on the Baker Commission report

Last night I went to a panel discussion at the Frontline Club on the Baker Commission report into the US occupation of Iraq. The panelists were the British Ambassadors from Iraq (Salah Al Shaikhly) and Syria (Sami Al Khaimi), the US Deputy Chief of Mission to the UK (David Johnson) and two British journalists, Patrick Cockburn and Richard Beeston. The panel was moderated by Channel 4's Jon Snow.

The event was noteworthy if only because it brought together an interesting mix of characters. Salah Al Khaimi was the classical Arab high official with his rhetorical fluorishes and dry, fatalist wit. Throughout the lecture he referred to the US as the ruler of the planet and at one point referred to the US representative as 'boss'. Much of the crowd could not contain their meriment at the manner of his speech, but I think most of the time they mistook his meriment for the utterings of an incompetent State crony and ignored his underlying messages. His basic message was that there wasn't very much the Syrians could do when the US has such an antagonistic position towards them.

Salah Al Shaikhly spoke more elegantly, with a mildly cultivated English accent and a rather fine suit. Of the three officials, Al Shaikhly was the smoothest propagandist, assuring the audience that Iraq was not a sectarian society divided along religious affiliations. Not once did he criticise the US, contenting himself with criticisms of Iran and Syria for meddling in Iraq's internal affairs.

The comment of the evening was reserved for David Johnson when he said that no country should meddle in the internal affairs of Iraq. In general Johnson put up a brave face on some foolish American positions and his style was distinctly American - not directly engaging the questions he was asked, and instead opting for robust statements of intended US policies (to 'help' the Iraqis develop democracy) and avoiding any statement on actual US actions.

The Syrian Ambassador was the only member of the panel to mention the recent history of Iraq and Syria, noting that both countries had been created by the British and French resectively after WWI at the expense of different ethnic and religious populations which did not fit neatly within the articial state boundaries created. Unfortunately this aspect was not developed as, I believe, it is central to understanding the current and general situation in the Middle East. You won't have democracy in the region while the states which people live in do not represent their ethnic and cultural identities.

It was left to the two journalists on the panel to inject some realism about the current situation, which was somewhat ironic. The message relayed was clear and stark. The war in Iraq is getting worse, the American presence is exacerbating the violence, and the US must work with Syria and Iran to try and stop the violence. The journalists also stressed that President Bush has effectively torn up the Baker Report. The President has ignored most of the 75 recommendations made by the Report, which did not include increasing US troop numbers in the country.

Meanwhile, on planet Earth, the US storms an Iranian consultate in Iraqi Kurdistan.