Susanna Maisto

Mayo & Cullen

CAP Foreign Policy Congress Position Paper
Afghanistan/ Pakistan
Background
The Soviet Union invaded in 1979, so the US sent assistance to rebellion groups, or the
Afghan Mujahideen. The US sent supplies to the Mujahideen through Pakistan. The
USSR left Afghanistan in 1989 (Devotion to Duty 1).

Usama bin Ladin and other members of al-Qaeda went to Afghanistan from Sudan in
1996. In 1998, al-Qaeda bombed the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. After
that, the CIA began intensely tracking and operating against al-Qaeda (Devotion to
Duty 1).

Pakistan and the ISI support the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and have helped train some
members (Riedel 1).

Current Information
Pakistans new Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, is likely to be even less vigorous in
fighting al-Qaeda than his predecessor Asif Zardari. Zadaris wife was killed with the
help of al-Qaeda. Sharif was prime minister during the late 90s, and even though Clinton
asked him to, he didnt try to stop Osama bin Laden (Riedel 1).

Obama said at a NATO meeting that he had instructed the Pentagon to completely retreat
from Afghanistan because Afghanistans president, Hamid Karzai, refused to sign
bilateral agreements with the United States (Cooper 1).

Military commanders and policy experts say that without a remaining core of Western
troops to support the Afghan government and continue training the security forces, the
chances are high that significant swaths of the country will fall back under Taliban
control, just as they were before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Military commanders also
dont want to leave after spending 13 years there, when they fear that after leaving, all of
their work will go to waste (Cooper 1).

David Sedney, former assistant secretary of defense for Afghanistan, said that leaving
Afghanistan would make it unstable, but Pakistan and India want a stable Afghanistan
(Cooper 1).

Prime minister Sharif has suspended operations against terrorism. He tried to negotiate a
solution, and in doing so, let Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah organize his leadership
(The Dangers in Pakistan, Afghanistan 1).

The US should ignore Afghanistan Prime minister Karzais refusals to sign treaties. His
term is ending soon, so the US should wait for a new president, who will probably sign
agreements. The US should keep forces in Afghanistan until then and should not
withdraw just because of Karzai (The Dangers in Pakistan, Afghanistan 1).

Egypt
Background Information

Susanna Maisto
Mayo & Cullen
President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in 2011 through Arab Spring protests because he
wasnt democratic and he was corrupt. The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood took power.
The interim military government held power for about a year after Mubarak was ousted.
Through elections in early 2012, Islamist Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed
Morsi became the new president (Egypt Profile 1).

Under Morsis rule, many small social groups, such as liberals and Christians, felt as
though they were not getting treated fairly. After Morsi had been in office for a year,
these smaller groups started protesting again, and with the help of the military, Morsi was
kicked out of office (Egypt Profile 1).

The Camp David Accords: Called for a formal peace treaty to be signed between Israel
and Egypt, within three months, called for establishment of diplomatic relations between
the two countries, called for Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula in stages, to be
completed within three years, called for further meetings to resolve the Palestinian
question, called for a five-year transitional period of Israeli withdrawal from the West
Bank and Gaza, called for an end to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and did not
settle the question of East Jerusalem (CNN Library 1).

Current Information
Egyptian military chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi launched a $40 billion housing initiative in
hopes of lightening the housing crisis and spurring economic growth. El-Sissi is not
president, but is likely to run and win (Associated Press 1).

The military is arresting anyone who protests for Morsi and the Islamist Brotherhood,
saying that they are terrorists. The military is also arresting liberal activists, and
sometimes, ordinary citizens who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Between July and December of 2013, 21,317 people were arrested for protesting,
according to the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (Cunningham 1).

Detainees are often held illegally for weeks at police stations and barracks that operate
outside prison regulations, and appeal hearings take place at the same security
installations instead of in the courtroom, activists say. The practices and regulations
are harsher than those of the Mubarak era. The recent arrests give police more power
than they deserve. (Cunningham 1).

The military has declared the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group. Hamas is a
branch of the brotherhood. Egyptian court banned Hamas activity (Saleh 1).

The decision harms the image of Egypt and its role towards the Palestinian cause. It
reflects a form of standing against Palestinian resistance (to Israel), said Sami Abu
Zuhri, a spokesman for the Gaza-based militant organization (Saleh 1).

Iran
Background
In 1979, Iranian citizens overthrew the monarchy, becoming an Islamic Republic. There
have been seven presidents since. Ahmadinejad just finished his term in 2013, and the

Susanna Maisto
Mayo & Cullen
current president is Hassan Rouhani (Iran Profile 1).

Russia has helped Iran build nuclear power stations. It says that its use of nuclear power
is innocent. Ahmadinejad said that the country has an inalienable right to use nuclear
fuel. Bush called Iran part of the axis of evils after it opened up its nuclear power plant
(Iran Profile 1).

The Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act: A bill, currently in Congress, under which the US
will increase sanctions against Iran in hope of preventing their creation of more nuclear
weapons. It also said that, contrary to what Ahmadinejad has said, Iran does NOT have
the inalienable right to create nuclear energy. Finally, it says that Israel can impose
military force on Iran. It has not been passed yet (S.1881 1).

Current Information
Weapons have been tracked back to Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel
says that we are ignoring these facts because we are trying to make peace with Iran, but
that these truths are too erroneous to overlook. He said, The ship was organised by Iran,
dispatched by Iran, financed by Iran. The missiles were loaded by Iran, in Iran," and he
says that the world is being hypocritical (Israel attacks hypocrisy of international
community on Iran 1).

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that negotiations are possible within
the next five months, as long as all parties involved are willing to cooperate (Iran tells
EUs Ashton nuclear deal possible in months 1).

After Hassan Rouhani was elected, ties between the Islamic Republic and the EU have
improved (Israel attacks hypocrisy of international community on Iran 1).

Iran started negotiating because it wanted to do away with sanctions, while the United
States started negotiating to dismantle the countrys weapons (Kassen, Rosenberg 1).

Iran has ignored negotiations before- in 2003, it disregarded agreements that we had
come to. The US needs to approach this situation by saying that it either it completely
gets rid of its plans for weapons, or the US imposes stricter sanctions and make the
country even more isolated (Kassen, Rosenberg 1).

Hassan Rouhani has declared that his government will not dismantle a single centrifuge.
Tehran also went beyond words by testing long-range ballistic missiles that could reach
American military bases in the Middle East, as well as our ally Israel. It has even
dispatched warships to sail close to the maritime borders of the United States in the
Atlantic Ocean (Kassen, Rosenberg 1).
Israel/ Palestine
Background
Israel is our most reliable partner in the middle east (U.S. Relations with Israel 1).

Israel and Palestine began negotiations on a final solution in July (U.S. Relations with
Israel 1).

Susanna Maisto
Mayo & Cullen

Israel fought wars in 1948, 1967, and 1973. It fought smaller wars in 1956, 1982, and
2006 (Israel Profile 1).

Israel has built homes for more than 500,000 people in the West Bank. Under
international law, these homes are illegal (Israel Profile 1).

Israeli settlers in Gaza evacuated in 2005, but in 2007, it was seized by the Hamas, so
Israel set up a blockade to prevent military assault (Israel Profile 1).

Current Information
Palestinians in Israel are severely mistreated. On March 6, news broke that Israel had cut
off water for 45,000 Palestinians (Lendman 1).

There is worry that if Israel becomes an official Jewish state, then the 20% of the Israeli
population that is not Jewish will be regarded as second-class (Bowie 1).

Palestine has done as it was told- it reduced violence and has recognized the state of
Israel. In return, the borders were supposed to be drawn back to the borders of 1967, but
Israel has not held up on their part of the deal (Bowie 1).

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of Palestine, said that he is ok with a 3 year transition
period during which the Israeli military will patrol the Palestinian border. The Israeli
president opposes a transition period lasting more than 3 years. He fears that a transition
period could last more than 40 years (Rudoren 1).

Abbas said that after the 3 year transition period, military from a third country could
patrol the border to promote safety. Israel does not want this; they think that the two
parties involved are enough (Rudoren 1).

There are more than half a million Israeli settlers living on Palestinian land (Zogby 1).

Even if the diplomats of both countries are able to come to an agreement, the harder ask
will be persuading the citizens to trust the other country. (Zogby 1).

The following increased citizens doubts that progress will be made: Suicide bombings,
rocket fire from Gaza, the second Intifada, the election of Hamas, continued settlement
construction, Israel's re-occupation of the West Bank, the assassination of Prime Minister
Rabin and Baruch Goldstein's massacre of Palestinians in Hebron (Zogby 1).
Syria
Background
Syria is controlled by the Alawite faction of the military (Syria Profile 1).

In 2011, citizens began protesting as part of the Arab Spring. The government used mass
arrests, tanks, and gunfire to control the citizens. In 2012, the uprising turned into a full
scale civil war (Syria Profile 1).


Susanna Maisto
Mayo & Cullen
Current Information
According to UNICEF, Syria is one of the most dangerous places on Earth to be a child.
Hundreds of thousands of children are trapped in war zones. 10,000 children have been
killed in the Syrian war. 136,000 children have been killed since the Arab Spring in 2011
(Syria among 'most dangerous places on Earth' for children: UNICEF 1).

More than 5.5 million children have been personally affected by the war and are likely to
need psychological help. Young boys are being recruited for the army at the age of 12
(Syria among 'most dangerous places on Earth' for children: UNICEF 1).

Barrel-bombing: When the government/ Assad regime drops barrels on schools,
apartment buildings, and hospitals. The barrels are filled with nails and other deadly
materials. People are dying from lack of medical care, starvation, and being shot by
snipers (Editorial Board 1).

Assad is not getting rid of his chemical weapons. He is supposed to have destroyed 12
production facilities by March 15, but he probably wont have by then (Editorial Board
1).

At a peace conference in Geneva, diplomats decided that the Assad regime was to discuss
a plan for a transitional government, but there is a fake election set. Assad will win the
fake election and will continue to be president for another seven years (Editorial Board
1).

The problems in Syria concern surrounding countries, such as Jordan and Turkey. The al-
Qaeda is present in the neighboring countries as they make their way into Syria. There
are also massive refugee issues (Franklin 1).

If we fight for the refugees, we will be fighting against Assad, yes, but we will also be
supporting al-Qaeda. If we help al-Qaeda now, our plan may backfire, and we may find
ourselves supporting future terrorists (Franklin 1).

A Congressional Research Service published in September said that the cost of going to
war with Syria could range anywhere from 500 million dollars to 12 billion dollars. This
cost would be dependent on the type and length of U.S. military actions, the
participation of U.S. allies, and Syrian and Syrian-allied responses (Veronique de Rugy
1).



Ukraine
Background
Ukraine held fake elections in October 2012. President Yanukovych won (Introduction
Ukraine 1).

In November 2013, Yanukovych changed economic policy so that it became closer with
Russia but hindered relations with other countries. Citizens protested for three months,

Susanna Maisto
Mayo & Cullen
but at the end of the three months, the government used force and violence to break up
the protests. This was the catalyst for full out battles. Yanukovych was kicked out of
office. The interim president is President Turchynov. Russian President Putin ordered
military occupation of Crimea, Ukraine, one week. He claims that he is protecting
Russians living there, but really, he is protecting the ousted president (Introduction
Ukraine 1).

Current Information
Crimea wants to secede from Ukraine and become a part of Russia. There will be a vote
on Sunday to see what citizens want, but critics say that the vote will be illegitimate
(Baker 1).

Pro of economic sanctions: It would let Russia know that the US will not tolerate
unapproved military action (Sussex 1).

Con of offering NATO status to Ukraine: It would upset Russia immensely (Russia and
China would still not be members of NATO) without accomplishing much. We would
have a cold war situation. China, not Russia, is our primary international interest. (Sussex
1).

Condoleeza Rice said that, Diplomatic isolation, asset freezes and travel bans against
oligarchs are appropriate. She supports sanctions, but not suspending Russias
membership in the G-8 or offering Ukraine a NATO membership (Rice 1).

We have to worry about the long term situation that Russias actions suggest. Putin is still
in the Cold War mindset that Russia controls Europe. We have to make sure that we do
something to demonstrate the independence of smaller European countries (Rice 1).

Giving Ukraine a spot in NATO probably wouldnt do anything. If Ukraine needs
military support, other European countries probably wont give it. It would upset Russia.
So, a spot in NATO would upset Russia without gaining anything safety-wise for Ukraine
(Watt 1).

Many Ukrainian citizens dont support a NATO membership, just as even more citizens
from other countries in NATO dont approve of NATO membership (Watt 1).

So many countries, such as Germany and France, are also putting sanctions on Russia,
that it may not be necessary to do stuff other than sanctions (Watt 1).


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Mayo & Cullen
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