The Surge Got Lucky - Barbara Bodine October 15, 2008

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Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2008/09/11/Ambassador_Barbara_Bodine_Iraq_and_the_Road_Ahead

Former American Ambassador to Yemen Barbara Bodine argues that the claimed success of the U.S. troop surge in Iraq was largely due to the "luck" of the selection of General David Petraeus to lead the deployment.

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Ambassador Barbara Bodine joins the Council to discuss recommendations for the next administration's policy with regard to Iraq and consider what Iraq's future means for regional stability.

Drawing on over 30 years in the US Foreign Service, Ambassador Bodine is a veteran diplomat with expertise in Middle Eastern affairs.

Her many posts have included Ambassador to the Republic of Yemen, Deputy Chief of Mission to Kuwait during the first Gulf War and the first coalition coordinator for reconstruction of Baghdad after the US invasion in 2003 - World Affairs Council of Northern California

Ambassador Barbara K. Bodine is lecturer and diplomat-in-residence at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs where she teaches courses on the Iraq War and on US diplomacy in the Middle East as it relates to the Persian Gulf region and southwest Asia, and also serves as a resource for students interested in careers in public service.

Bodine's over 30 years in the US Foreign Service were spent primarily on Arabian Peninsula and greater Persian Gulf issues, specifically US bilateral and regional policy, strategic security issues, counterterrorism, and governance and reform. Her tour as Ambassador to the Republic of Yemen 1997-2001, saw enhanced support for democratization and increased security and counterterrorism cooperation, the establishment of a coast guard, resumption of Fulbright scholarships for Yemeni students, initiation of a $40 million/year economic assistance and development program, and an indigenous landmine awareness and demining program.

Bodine also served in Baghdad as Deputy Principal Officer during the Iran-Iraq War, Kuwait as Deputy Chief of Mission during the Iraqi invasion and occupation of 1990-1991, and again, seconded to the Department of Defense, in Iraq in 2003 as the senior State Department official and the first coalition coordinator for reconstruction in Baghdad and the central governorates.