On September 26, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, AFPC sponsored a two-panel debate addressing the question of “When Should the U.S. Use Force Abroad?”. The first panel, moderated by AFPC Vice President Ilan Berman, was comprised of Dr. Philip Giraldi, a former CIA Case Officer and Army Intelligence Officer and Dr. Michael Doran, a former senior director at the NSC under President George W. Bush. Giraldi and Doran provided lively and contrasting views on lessons learned from America’s use of force in Iraq and how they inform future decisions regarding military missions abroad.
The second panel, moderated by AFPC President Herman Pirchner, Jr., reviewed the major uses of American force since Vietnam. The panelists were Dr. Jeff Bergner, a former Assistant Secretary of State under President George H.W. Bush and former staff director of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Mr. Gerry Warburg, former senior aide to Senate Democratic Whip Alan Cranston (D-CA). Bergner and Warburg cordially debated the circumstances when the use of military force was justified, the influence of the views of the American public, the War Powers Resolution and the role of Congress in authorizing the use of military force.
The debate, bringing together highly-informed but differing views on each topic, served to enrich the contemporary discussion about when, and how, the United States should intervene militarily abroad.
You can watch a video of the debate by clicking the links below, or read the transcript by downloading the file at the end of the page.
