War of Necessity, War of Choice

On May 14th Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign relations, discussed his new book War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars with Steve Coll, President of the New America Foundation. Richard Haas described his role in the lead up to the war in Iraq and how the most recent Bush administration failed to properly calculate and prepare for the war.

Their discussion then focused on the distinction between wars of choice and wars of necessity. Haass explained that the 43rd President’s war in Iraq was one of choice because other options had not been exhausted and the regime in Iraq was not doing anything particularly new. Conversely, he argued that the Persian Gulf War was a war of necessity because the combined oil production of Kuwait and Iraq would have given Saddam Hussein unacceptably large influence over the global economy. Additionally Haass points out that the post-Cold War era had not yet been defined and that it was essential that America make clear that wars of conquest were no longer acceptable.

The question and answer session that followed covered numerous topics including how each of the Bush presidencies’ made their domestic cases; whether Afghanistan was a war of choice; the differing opinions of members in the administration regarding Iraq; and the possibility of war with Iran.

Participants

Richard N. Haass
President, Council on Foreign Relations
Author, War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars

Steve Coll
President, New America Foundation
Author, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001