It is an irony that cannot have escaped George W Bush and his incoming foreign policy team that the most intractable international problem they face has been bequeathed to them by his father’s administration. Indeed many of the leading foreign policy staff appointed by the new president gained their reputation whilst dealing with Iraq for Bush senior. But as the new foreign policy appointees take up their posts and begin the policy review process, the way forward on Iraq is far from clear.
Despite a decade of military action and swinging economic sanctions, President Saddam Hussein is still very much in power. Indeed it can be argued that his government is stronger and more defiant now than at any time since the start of hostilities just ten years ago.
