U.S.- Iraq ProCon.org HOME | CLOSE

Name: Kenneth M. Pollack, Ph.D.
Title: Director of Research, Saban Center for Middle East Policy
Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies, The Brookings Institute

Position: PRO to the question "Should the U.S. have attacked Iraq?"
Reasoning:

"As I will explain over the course of this book [The Threatening Storm], I believe that the last option, a full-scale invasion, has unfortunately become our best option-or at least our 'least bad' option. To understand these different courses of action, to explain why I believe an invasion is the United States' best course, and to help the reader make up his or her own mind, this book is organized into three parts. The first part presents a brief description of Iraqi history and U.S. involvement in the Persian Gulf, a short biographical sketch of Saddam Hussein, and the history of U.S.-Iraqi relations since 1979. The second part provides an overview of Iraq today, the nature of Saddam's totalitarianism, the threat that Iraq presents to the region and the United States, and a summary of how the different states of the Middle East see Iraq. The final part of the book then assesses each of the policy options in turn, drawing on the background provided in Parts I and II to explain the benefits and liabilities of each."

The Threatening Storm
"Introduction: The Problem of Iraq"
September 2002
Credibility
Ranking:		  Experts
PhD's, JD's (lawyers), Judges, Members of Congress, Ambassadors, Consulate Generals, heads of government, Cabinet-level positions, military generals/admirals, members of legislative bodies with significant involvement in, or related to, the U.S.- Iraq conflict.

Involvement:
  • Director of Research, Saban Center for Middle East Policy
    Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies, The Brookings Institute
  • Director for National Security Studies, Council on Foreign Relations, 2001-2002
  • Director for Persian Gulf Affairs, National Security Council, 1999-2001
  • Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs, National Security Council, 1995-1996
  • Senior Research Professor, National Defense University, 1998-1999, 2001
  • Iran-Iraq Military Analyst, Central Intelligence Agency, 1988-1995

Education: Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1996
B.A., Yale University, 1988

Affiliations/
Honors:
  • Staff - National Security Council
  • Member - Task Force on Terrorism, Council on Foreign Relations
  • Chairman - Roundtable on Terrorism, Council on Foreign Relations
  • Former Senior Research Professor - Institute for National Strategic Studies of the National Defense University
  • Former Research Fellow - Washington Institute for Near East Policy
  • Two time recipient of the Agency's [CIA] Exceptional Performance Award
  • Received the CIA's Certificate of Distinction for Outstanding Performance of Duty
  • Principle author of the CIA's classified post-mortem on Iraq strategy and operations during the Persian Gulf War

Contact Info: Saban Center for Middle East Policy
Phone: (202) 797-6462 Fax: (202) 797-2481
E-Mail:   SabanCenter@brookings.edu
Web Site: http://www.brook.edu/scholars/kpollack.htm

Other: Select Publications:
  • The Persian Puzzle: The Conflict Between Iran and America, Random House, 2004
  • "Mourning After: How They Screwed It Up," The New Republic, June 28, 2004
  • "Spies, Lies, and Weapons: What Went Wrong," The Atlantic Monthly, January 2004
  • "Securing the Gulf," Foreign Affairs, July/August 2003
  • "Democracy in Iraq?" with Daniel L. Byman, The Washington Quarterly, Summer 2003
  • "Iraq's Coming Democracy," with Daniel L. Byman, Blueprint, April 2003
  • "Democracy in the Middle East: Democracy as Realism," with Daniel L. Byman, Prospect (UK), April 2003
  • "The Regional Military Balance," in Richard Sokolsky, ed. The United States and the Persian Gulf: Reshaping U.S. Security Strategy for the Post-Containment Era, National Defense University, 2003
  • The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq, Random House, 2002
  • Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948-1991, University of Nebraska Press, 2002
  • "Next Stop Baghdad?," Foreign Affairs, March-April 2002
  • "Armies of Sand and Armies of Snow: The Impact of Soviet Military Doctrine on Arab Militaries," with Michael Eisenstadt, Middle East Journal, Autumn 2001
  • "Let Us Now Praise Great Men: Bringing the Statesman Back In," with Daniel L. Byman, International Security, Spring 2001
HOME | CLOSE