There wasn't a genuine effort to slowly go across the country and ask the people what type of political system or what type of system works here. There was a design a plan that had been sketched up as I mentioned vaguely throughout the 1990s that was simply implemented in a green zone away from society. To this day you know the green zone has opened to some extent but international many international aid many international diplomats working in Iraq still don't go and meet with Iraqi society.
What happened in Iraq once the Americans and the British arrived? Why was the transfer of power a far from smooth operation? And what else went wrong in what should have been the mission for liberation?
In the second episode of this series Iraq: Legacy of War, brought to you by Intelligence Squared, host Manveen Rana, is joined again by Renad Mansour, director of the Iraq Initiative at Chatham House; and Clare Short, who was Secretary of State for International Development from 1997 to 2003.
To listen to the whole series now please subscribe via Intelligence Squared Premium on Apple Podcasts or here: https://iq2premium.supercast.com/ for ad-free listening, bonus content, early access and much more.
This series was produced by Farah Jassat and Catharine Hughes, with editing and artwork from Catharine Hughes. Music is by Lesfm. Excerpts featured in this episode are from BBC news.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices