Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

U. Kansas doctoral student shares Iraq experiences
By Courtney Condron
University Daily Kansan (U. Kansas)
09/27/2007

(U-WIRE) LAWRENCE, Kan. — Major Andrew Harvey, a University of Kansas doctoral student, spoke at the Dole Institute of Politics Wednesday night about his experiences in Iraq as a political-military intelligence officer.

Harvey, who spent the duration of 2006 in Iraq, discussed the results of studies that he participated in to reveal the progress and proposed future of the country. He said that Iraq will "fracture" because its government will be too weak in the future and ethnic groups will see its constitution as inefficient.

"Iraq will lack a strong government for many years," Harvey said. "It takes a long, long time."

Harvey discussed the separation of Iraqi people into ethnic groups and how that affects the voting power in Iraq. He also talked about which groups wanted the United States to remain in the country and which didn't.

"Iraq's problem is that they are fairly new to the idea of running a government in what we call a democratic method," Harvey said.

Harvey also spoke about the importance of Iraq's neighboring countries, especially Turkey. He talked about why the current systems of government, including the Iraqi Parliament, Kurdish Regional Government and Council of Representatives, are failing. He said the court system in Iraq was "in shambles" without written laws, and that the national police were "completely compromised."

While Harvey was in Iraq, he assisted in the improvement of the agricultural ministry. His efforts helped double the agricultural output.

Jonathan Earle, Interim Director at the Dole Institute, said there was an "absolute hunger" in the local community to talk about the war.

"We happen to have people like Harvey on this campus that just got back," Earle said. "This is something that isn't going away. It's going to be here now, six months from now and six months after that."

Harvey said that even if U.S. troops could create a completely secure and stable situation in Iraq, it would take a long time for the current leaders to create a functioning system of government.

Harvey has been active in the service since 1986, and is working for the Department of Joint and Multinational Operations at Fort Leavenworth. At the University, Harvey is working on his dissertation on the European Union's development of defense capability.

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