Why I'm Going to Iraq

When I tell people that I'm voluntarily headed to Baghdad for two months, they inevitably ask me two questions:

1. Why are you going?
2. How did you get this particular gig?

The answers to the two questions are somewhat intertwined: Even though I'm a Russian-born Canadian (my parents took a wrong turn at the St. Lawrence Seaway when we immigrated), I've long been a red-white-and-blue patriot. I mean, in middle school in Lindsay, Ontario, I pledged allegiance to the Star Spangled Banner in my locker... So anyway, nearly two years ago I went to see General Petraeus speak at a Princeton alumni conference (he got his PhD at my alma mater); this was soon after he'd returned from a stint training the new Iraqi army, when he was just starting out at Fort Leavenworth, where he wrote the new Army-Marines Joint Counterinsurgency Manual. I came up to him after his talk and said, hey, I loved the talk, have always been into rule of law issues, would love to help out in either a military or civilian capacity but see, I have this immigration status issue.

General Petraeus put me in touch with some very senior military and civilian DoD officials and for many months we tried to figure out some way that would allow me to serve. To no avail whatsoever. We even tried lobbying then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (for whom I had interned way back when) for a private member's bill -- except that was right around the time when the larger immigration debate exploded last year, so little ol' me's plight was DOA.

So I kept at my private law firm world of billable hours and continued to write and teach on the side, and of course follow the law, politics, and policy of our Iraq situation. I was heartened to see Petraeus put in charge of our operations in the "Big Dirty," and rooting for the surge (finally! -- putting some needed muscle into the scene).

Then, almost three months ago now, I got an email from the deputy of Petraeus's lawyer (aka the highest-ranking JAG in Iraq -- I won't be disclosing names and such until I'm briefed on security policy vis-a-vis blogging when I get there) saying they had created this new task force dealing with Law and Order and Rule of Law issues. They couldn't pay me, again for immigration reasons, but if my firm would release me, they would be happy to have me for as long as I wanted.

So I ran it up my firm's flagpole and, after various consultations with all the proper people, got my approval. I negotiated a two-month leave and here we are. (From the Army side, they had get a few more approvals from Petraeus so I could get the appropriate training, access to the mess and gym on base and such.)

To tie up the "why" now that you have the essentials of the "how," basically I want to live a life that has impact, and I'm also committed to public service. This country, while writing ridiculous immigration laws that prevent me from having a green card even though I've spent my entire life here, has given me a lot. I believe it's the shining city on the hill, and I also believe it's the body of the spear in this great civilizational battle we're undergoing (Israel is the tip). It's somewhat odd being a libertarian pro-public service kinda guy -- but I guess that's why I'm classical liberal and not libertarian. Plus, I relish the military values: honor, courage, duty, loyalty. Despite the civilian authorities' use of the military as a laboratory for social engineering, it's one of the last places in American society where men can be men, in the Harvey Mansfield sense of manliness.

Moreover, I had long studied comparative politics and law, as well as institutional and cultural theories for building the rule of law, and here was my chance to see everything in action. Just like clerking for a federal judge allowed me to learn about the combination of the theory and practice of law, this sojourn in Baghdad will allow me to observe the implementation of the lessons of political science. Or so I think now; check in with me in a few weeks.