Barham Salih in conversation

On September 13, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings hosted a fascinating discussion with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih as part of its Statesmans Forum.

He starts out by saying: As an Iraqi and a Kurdish democrat, as somebody who has devoted his life to the overthrow of that tyranny of the Ba’ath Party, I understand Iraq in its true context, a society traumatized by 35 years of state terrorism, a state that was designed to fail, a state that was a prison of its people, a state of imposition and repression. No perspective is more false, no analysis more shallow than that of viewing Iraq within the context of the last three and a half years alone. Iraqi history did not start in 2003, but if Saddam Hussein had his way, it would have ended with him and his sons.