As the United States’ intervention in Iraq entered its third year amidst continuing violence, the Kroc Institute focused on an issue that has not been adequately addressed in the public debate: the morality of disengagement.

On March 21, 2005, the institute teamed up with the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture and the Fourth Freedom Forum to sponsor a major conference, “The Ethics of Exit: The Morality of Withdrawal from Iraq.” The conference was held at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus in New York City, and broadcast live at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Illinois, as well as on the Internet.

Prominent scholars and Iraq experts addressed the political, military, and moral issues associated with the three major options in Iraq: strategic withdrawal, staying the course, and deeper engagement. Among the speakers and their perspectives:

“I hardly think it’s evidence of heightened moral awareness, as many on the left, and indeed the right, seem to think is the case, to argue for the abandonment of Iraq today. I think doing so would be in many ways like a marshal or a police officer telling a crime victim or a witness that he or she has been protecting that you’re on your own now; fend for yourself.” — Lawrence Kaplan, senior fellow, the Hudson Institute

“Only a multi-faceted U.S. withdrawal, and regional engagement with other partners who will share in the security and future of Iraq, can create the political and cultural space necessary for an Iraqi government and Iraqi civil society to challenge the insurgency on the nationalist, political, religious and cultural grounds through which the Iraqis themselves must determine the outcome of their national struggle.” — George A. Lopez, senior fellow, Kroc Institute

“I don’t think Muslims can afford to continue harping on all of the wrongs of the war. They need to consider what Islamic ethics require of them to help their Iraqi brethren build a more peaceful and prosperous country. As the Koran commands, ‘Let not enmity of any people divert you from justice; be just, that is closest to piety.’” — Sohail Hashmi, associate professor of international relations, Mount Holyoke College

Among other speakers were Stanley Hoffmann of Harvard University; Jean Bethke Elshtain of the University of Chicago; Col. W. Patrick Lang, formerly of the Defense Intelligence Agency; and Fr. Kenneth Himes of Boston College. Some 200 people attended. Essays from the conference were published in the April issue of Foreign Policy. Links to those articles, and to transcripts and videos of the conference, are available on the Kroc Institute’s web site (http://kroc.nd.edu/events/ethicsexit.shtml).

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