1ST BRIGADE OF V CORPS' 1ST ARMORED DIVISION CONDUCTS SECOND FORUM FOR STUDENTS AT BAGHDAD UNIVERSITY
V Corps Release
Release Date: 3/2/2004
By Azhar Jasim for the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Soldiers of the "Ready First" 1st Brigade Combat Team of V Corps' 1st Armored Division met with Iraq's future leaders at a second student forum here Feb. 23. The gathering was a follow-on to the success of the first such forum, conducted at the Palestine Hotel in December.
The meeting took place at the College of Languages on the Bab Al Muadham campus of Baghdad University. Col. Peter Mansoor, the 1st Brigade Combat Team commander, greeted the students. He was joined by a panel of experts from the brigade and the division staff in answering students' questions. Lt. Col. Sharon Riley, the division's senior legal advisor, and Lt. Col. John Kem, commander of the division's 16th Engineer Battalion, also participated in the evening's discussions.
The goal of the forum was to increase the flow of information between the coalition and the Iraqi public and to allow the future leaders of Iraq to learn more about current events in Baghdad and plans for the future.
A large number of students were present and seemed eager to ask questions of the panel. Their questions included queries about Iraq's upcoming national elections; discussions on the meaning of federalism; the movement of coalition forces to the periphery of Baghdad, and local infrastructure improvements. The meeting also covered issues concerning the college itself and the future of educational institutions in Iraq.
Mansoor told the assembly Iraq would gain sovereignty June 30. One student, who was present at the last forum, asked Mansoor why the new Iraqi constitution would not be based on the laws of Islam.
"Iraq has many religious groups, and to base the government on Islam would be to ignore the others," the colonel explained. "The Islamic faith will be completely respected, as it has in the new constitution of Afghanistan. But there are many Christians living in Iraq. Respectfully, they should not be governed under Islamic law."
A group of students calling itself the "League of Students for Moral Conduct" claimed that they should be the sole protectors of the school. Iraqi Police Service or Facilities Protective Service officers are not needed, members of the organization said. But judging from the speakers' comments, it became clear to participants that the organization was not concerned about crime, but rather wanted to control student behavior on campus - especially the behavior of female students who choose not to abide by the traditional Islamic code.
Riley replied that students should focus their interests on learning and not law enforcement. Mansoor was more direct in his response.
"What you are doing is wrong. It is not your place in a free society to intimidate other students into acting in the manner you think is right," Mansoor said. "If the students are not breaking the law, then they are free to act as they choose. Who is to say that your moral code is any more right than theirs?"
Participants in the forum said the meeting went well. In addition to students, members of the local press were present and a local television station had a chance to conduct interviews with the students and Army leaders.
The brigade is planning another student forum for later in March.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
