Iraq and the Middle East: The Path Ahead

Congressman Dan Lipinski (D-IL) and Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL) co-hosted a panel of experts with The Chicago Council on Global Affairs to discuss bipartisan options for drawing down the war in Iraq in a responsible and safe manner. The program took place as General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker were set to deliver their reports on the situation in Iraq to Congress. As the Congress is expected to consider a number of pieces of legislation related to Iraq in the coming weeks and months, the event provided a timely and important discussion of Iraq policy options.

The following guest experts joined congressmen Lipinski and Kirk in the discussion:

Ambassador Henry A. Crumpton - served in the Central Intelligence Agency for 24 years including stints as deputy chief of the International Terrorism Operations Section (1998-1999) and leader of the CIA's Afghanistan campaign (2001-2002).

Ambassador Robert Gelbard - a career Foreign Service officer, served as special representative of the president and secretary of state for the Balkans, 1997-1999.

Paul Hughes - a senior program officer in the Center for Post-Conflict Peace and Stability Operations at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) where he led the Iraq Study Group's Military and Security Expert Working Group.

Chicago Council President Marshall M. Bouton moderated the discussion.

To download audio of this program, right click and select "save target as":
Kirk and Lipinski Event Audio(MP3, 46.2MB)