United Press International,
WASHINGTON, DC: The war in Iraq has become increasingly unpopular in America. Many are now calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from there. What, though, would happen if American forces left Iraq suddenly?
To address this question, I ran a role playing game in my War on Terrorism class at George Mason University. The game began with the announcement of a full, quick (100 day) American withdrawal from Iraq. What happened subsequently in the game, of course, would not necessarily occur in reality. What happened in the game, though, is something that could well take place — and so deserves to be taken seriously.
Since it is unimaginable that President George W. Bush would order the rapid withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, the game began on January 20, 2009 with the inauguration of President Hillary Clinton, who announced that this pullout would take place by May 1, 2009. President Clinton was ably played by Charmaine Mitchell, who is a Canadian, the mother of four, and an opponent of the war in Iraq. Indeed, it was she who suggested this scenario. Other students played various Iraqi actors (Shiite, Sunni, Kurdish), Russia, China, Britain, France, Iran, Turkey, Syria, the Saudi government, the Saudi opposition, Israel, Hamas, al-Qaida, various U.S. government officials (Secretary of Defense, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and Senate Republican Leader), and American public opinion.
Most Iraqi and Muslim actors welcomed the announcement of the U.S. pullout. But contention among them quickly arose. There was squabbling not only between the Sunni and Shiite communities, but within each of them too. When the Kurds indicated that they might (but not necessarily would) seek independence, Turkey announced that it would invade northern Iraq to stop them. Further, with the Americans leaving Iraq, Iran no longer feared a U.S. invasion and so announced that it had acquired nuclear weapons.
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