Mr. Jason Hansa is a retired U.S. Army officer that served in Germany, Korea, and CONUS, with two deployments each in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. He currently works as a military contractor at the U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command on Fort Lee, Virginia. He can be found on Twitter @HauptmannHansa. Divergent Options’ content does not contain information of an official nature nor does the content represent the official position of any government, any organization, or any group.
National Security Situation: In an alternative future, the Government of Iraq in 2020 considers deploying its troops as United Nations (UN) Peacekeepers.
Date Originally Written: June 1, 2018.
Date Originally Published: August 6, 2018.
Author and / or Article Point of View: This article is written from the point of view of the Iraqi Defense Minister writing a personal options paper for the Iraqi Prime Minister, circa 2020. This point of view assumes the Muslim Rohinga minority in Myanmar are still persecuted and an international coalition is forming to help them[1].
Background: Our nation has been at war for nearly twenty years, thirty if our invasion of Kuwait is included. Our military, thanks to training with the U.S. and a long war against the Islamic State (IS), is strong and has an experienced Noncommissioned Officer Corps. Our population votes. Our women can drive. We are more moderate than many Islamic nations, and yet, when the people of the world look to the Middle East, they see our nation only for our troubles. It is nearly impossible to entice foreign investment when the only image potential investors have of us is one of war. Moreover, the international spotlight often overlooks our nation entirely. The ongoing rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia continues to divide the world, the Palestinians continue their fights with Israel, and Egypt seems to implode every three years. Our neighbors scare away as much investment as our own beleaguered history.
Significance: If we are to bring our nation back into the spotlight, we must find a way to attract the world’s attention. We must find a way to demonstrate our ability to peacefully step up and stand on the world stage. Failure will keep our economy stagnant.
Option #1: Iraq asks to participate in UN peacekeeping missions.
Risk: This is a low-risk option demonstrating the strength of our military by helping others. Dispatching troops to join UN Peacekeeping operations is a solution that will bring about some short-term media notice, but probably very little else. Many small nations participate in UN Peacekeeping simply as a way to earn money and help bankroll their own militaries. There is no formalized training system for Peacekeepers, nations are left to send what units they choose. Our battle-tested battalions will serve alongside whatever troops the UN can scrounge up[2].
Gain: Our military hadn’t conducted operations outside of Iraq since our war with Iran in the 1980’s and the 1973 October War against Israel. Deployments with the UN will allow our forces to practice rotational deployment schedules. It is not an easy thing, sending troops and equipment outside of our borders, and moving them in conjunction with the UN will allow us time to practice and learn without a heavy media glare.
Option #2: Iraqi forces join other nations and conduct humanitarian operations in Myanmar.
Risk: With no prior practice of deployments, we stand the chance of making major mistakes while in the world’s eye. While we could swallow some pride and ask long-time allies for advice—especially our friends in Indonesia and India—neither country has a long history of overseas deployments. We would be best served asking new friends with deployment experience, such as the South Koreans, for help, a solution that is both diplomatically palatable and socially acceptable. Finally, we would have to assure our religious leaders and population that our military is not becoming mercenaries to serve, bleed, and die at the behest of western nations.
Gain: Participating in a humanitarian effort, especially if we were seen working with the consultation of a friend such as India, would be recognized as a major step towards participation on the global stage. For our population, assisting fellow brothers in Islam like the Rohinga would be a source of pride in our nation and our military.
Option #3: Iraqi forces work alongside European nations and conduct rotational operations in the Baltics.
Risk: This is a high-risk for high-gains solution. First, we have always maintained a cautious friendship with Russia, as they are a major source of our military’s weapons and arms. Aligning with Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nations against them will probably close that door for decades. Second, our people would question why we are sending our nation’s forces to faraway lands, and spending treasure (and possible lives) to fix a problem that does not concern us. Finally, our deployment inexperience will most hurt us during this option: unlike peacekeeping operations, our forces must deploy fully ready for war.
Gain: If we are to ask nations to invest in our country, we must stand ready to invest in the safety of theirs. Putting our forces in the Baltics will present our nation in a favorable light to the people and businessmen of small but relatively wealthy nations. While we lack deployment experience, we will have the entire logistical backbone and experience of NATO to draw upon to ensure our forces move in an organized fashion. Finally, the forces NATO assembles and trains in the Baltics are among their very best. Training alongside these forces is a cost-effective way to ensure our battle-hardened troops maintain their edge[3].
Other Comments: None.
Recommendation: None.
Endnotes:
[1] Smith, N. and Krol, C. (2017, September 19). Who are the Rohingya Muslims? The stateless minority fleeing violence in Burma. Retrieved 14 June 2018 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/rohingya-muslims/
[2] Schafer, B. (2016, August 3). United Nations Peacekeeping Flaws and Abuses: The U.S. Must Demand Reform. Retrieved 14 June 2018 https://www.heritage.org/report/united-nations-peacekeeping-flaws-and-abuses-the-us-must-demand-reform %5B3%5D McNamara, E. (NATO Magazine, 2016). Securing the Nordic-Baltic region. Retrieved 14 June 2018. https://www.nato.int/docu/review/2016/also-in-2016/security-baltic-defense-nato/EN/index.htm
[3] McNamara, E. (NATO Magazine, 2016). Securing the Nordic-Baltic region. Retrieved 14 June 2018. https://www.nato.int/docu/review/2016/also-in-2016/security-baltic-defense-nato/EN/index.htm