Here are sample questions and brief responses that provide examples of Michael Gunter's insight and opinions:
Q: What’s going to happen when U.S. troops leave Iraq?Gunter: There’s a real chance the Kurds and the Arabs will fight over borders and oil resources. There’s a “trigger line” and there have been very close calls fighting between the two that the U.S. Army separated. But it could fall apart very quickly.Q: What type of government will emerge in Iraq?Gunter: It’s been five months since the election and Iraq doesn’t even have a government. It’s shocking, but eventually they will, but what type will it be? The Kurds support a federal government but Arabs want to redraw the constitution. Q: If the U.S. troops pull out, will Iraq hold together or divide into separate groups?Gunter: First, I’m not so sure we are going to leave. We are keeping 50,000 troops there. Q: In whose interest is Iraq’s territorial integrity? Gunter: It’s largely in the supposed interest of the United States to maintain stability. If Iraq divided up, it could possibly become unstable and influence Iran and Turkey to enter because those two countries are dead set against any type of Kurdish independent state that might serve as a magnet to Kurds living in Turkey or Iran.Q: How effective is the focus on Iraq?Gunter: We’ve lost sight of Afghanistan, which is more important to our national interests. What are we trying to do there? Originally, it was to hunt Al-Qaeda. But now we could do it much better and with less money without being in Afghanistan. We are trying to establish a democracy for a country that doesn’t want it, doesn’t know what to do with it.
Additional comments:“It is not the United States’ job to go around setting everyone right.”“We cannot continue to be the world police, especially not without allies. And allies have currently reluctant to play this role.”
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