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Iraq: What Next for the U.S.? In this wide-ranging Fresh Air series on the future of the Iraq occupation, Terry Gross talks to military leaders, prominent Iraqis, journalists and policy analysts — asking when America should get out of Iraq and how we should go about doing it.
Special Series

Iraq: What Next for the U.S.?

Tuesday

After U.S. Troops Leave, What Happens To Iraq?

U.S. servicemen line up to board a bus as they begin their journey home at Al Asad Air Base west of Baghdad, Iraq, on Nov. 1. The U.S. has promised to withdraw from Iraq by the end of the year as required by a 2008 security agreement between Washington and Baghdad. Some 39,000 U.S. troops are scheduled to clear out along with their equipment. Khalid Mohammed/AP hide caption

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Khalid Mohammed/AP

Leaving Iraq

After U.S. Troops Leave, What Happens To Iraq?

Fresh Air

Tim Arango, the Baghdad bureau chief for The New York Times, shares personal stories from his time covering the war, including how he tracked down the subject of a famous photograph. He also talks about what the U.S. troop withdrawal means for the future of Iraq — and what will happen after the troops are gone.

After U.S. Troops Leave, What Happens To Iraq?

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Thursday

Defense Analyst Carl Conetta

Fresh Air

Carl Conetta co-directs the Project on Defense Alternatives, a defense-policy think tank. Earlier, he was a research fellow at the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies; he served for three years as editor of their journal, Defense and Disarmament Alternatives, and of the Arms Control Reporter.

Defense Analyst Carl Conetta

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'Weekly Standard' Editor William Kristol

Fresh Air

Editor and cofounder of the conservative Washington-based political magazine, The Weekly Standard, and an opinion columnist for The New York Times, William Kristol is a neoconservative voice on the Iraq war; he was among those who advocated for the U.S. to remove Saddam Hussein from power before Sept. 11, 2001.

'Weekly Standard' Editor William Kristol

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Author and Journalist Lawrence Wright

Fresh Air

Lawrence Wright is an author, screenwriter, playwright and a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine. He sits on the Council on Foreign Relations, and he won a Pulitzer Prize for his book The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11.

Author and Journalist Lawrence Wright

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Iraqi Women's-Rights Activist Yanar Mohammed

Fresh Air

Baghdad-born activist Yanar Mohammed directs the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq. She left Iraq in 1993, but since 2003, she has divided her time between her home country and her home in Canada. Mohammed's organization works to stop atrocities against Iraqi women and defend their rights; her activism has made her the target of death threats.

Iraqi Women's-Rights Activist Yanar Mohammed

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Wednesday

Opinion

Former U.S. Ambassador Peter Galbraith

Fresh Air

A former U.S. ambassador to Croatia and a senior diplomatic fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, Peter Galbraith is author of The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created A War Without End.

Former U.S. Ambassador Peter Galbraith

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Opinion

Professor Kanan Makiya

Fresh Air

Iraqi-born professor Kanan Makiya teaches Islamic and Middle Eastern studies at Brandeis University, outside Boston. He is one of the leading Arab intellectuals who called for the removal of Saddam Hussein; he also advised the Bush administration before the invasion of Iraq.

Professor Kanan Makiya

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Opinion

Retired British Army Gen. Sir Michael Rose

Fresh Air

Gen. Sir Michael Rose was best known as the commander of the U.N. Protection Force in Bosnia in the 1990s. In 2006, he called for the impeachment of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair for leading England into war in Iraq under false pretenses.

Retired British Army Gen. Sir Michael Rose

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Opinion

U.S. Army Lt. Col. John Nagl

Fresh Air

Lt. Col. John Nagl commands the 1st Battalion, 34th Armor at Fort Riley, Kan. He served in Operation Desert Storm and was the operations officer of a tank battalion task force in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He helped author the Army's Counterinsurgency Field Manual.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. John Nagl

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Opinion

Former Iraqi Official Ali A. Allawi

Fresh Air

Ali Allawi served as minister of trade and minister of defense under the Interim Iraqi Governing Council from 2003 to '04, then was minister of finance in the Iraqi Transitional Government between 2005 and '06. He teaches at Oxford University and is author of The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace.

Former Iraqi Official Ali A. Allawi

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