Foreign Policy In Iraq

Submitted By mmagazzu
Words: 726
Pages: 3

Foreign Policy
Foreign policy is strategies or policies that define how a group/state/nation deals with others to protect and safeguard their interests both at home and abroad. It also defines their relationships including goals, interest, and interactions with others to further promote their agendas as well. A very dire issue we are seeing right now is the situation in Iraq. President Obama had said that the U.S. should not be involved in the war in Iraq and made the announcement that the U.S. would be leaving Iraq, and even based his campaign on a pullout of the U.S. forces there. However, the current situation is requiring a review of foreign policy in regards to this issue. President Obama in the last few days has authorized air strikes in an effort to protect the Yazidis, an ethnic minority made up mostly of Kurds, but reportedly includes Christians, Hindus, and other minorities, from the Sunni militants known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), who have are reported to be more organized and deadly than Al-Qaida. They are reportedly demanding that the people denounce their religions and accept the beliefs of radical Islam or be killed. Many minorities have fled their homes in fear and are currently isolated on a mountaintop with no food or water with fears of annihilation should they leave the mountaintop. This is believed to be an apparent genocide with reports of beheadings and atrocities against mankind that rival some of the worst in history (Jones).
This situation has led Obama to modify his view of U.S. foreign policy in regards to Iraq. Whereas he had previously fulfilled his vowed to pull out U.S. troops, he has just recently decided to initiate humanitarian aid drops in the form of food/water, and supplies, followed by a decision to include air strikes against ISIS. World opinion in this respect ranges from the opinion that this decision was long overdue, and that U.S. involvement should include more invasive measures, whereas some still continue to believe that the U.S. should stay out of Middle East issues and let them run their course (McKelvey). A second issue is the current foreign policy relations between the U.S. and Israel and the effects of the conflict in the Gaza strip. Tension has indeed become more strained between the U.S. President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since Obama’s election. An open-microphone incident let the world hear what was considered a derogatory remark to French President Nickolas Sarkozy. Some believe that the recent attempts at a cease-fire by Secretary of State John Kerry were ineffective as well (Labott). Formerly, the U.S. and Israel had been on firm footing in regards to the interactions in foreign policy, with the U.S. seemingly support of Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas in the Gaza strip, who has stated their intent is to see Israel