Feisal al-Istrabadi: Difference between revisions

He is also the founding director of the Center for the Study of the Middle East at [[Indiana University, Bloomington]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.project-syndicate.org/columnist/feisal-amin-rasoul--al-istrabadi#QT6PgyKoUBi427md.99|title=Feisal Amin Rasoul al-Istrabadi|work=project-syndicate.org}}</ref>

Al-Istrabadi was born in [[Virginia]], in the [[United States|United States of America]], into a distinguished Iraqi family that had fled Iraq in the aftermath of the 1958 coup. That coup had removed the monarchy and imperiled those families that were intimately connected with it, including the al-Istrabadis.

Al-Istrabadi received a doctorate in law in 1988 from [[Indiana University Bloomington|Indiana University -- Bloomington]] and was a practicing trial lawyer for many years, during which time he became increasingly involved in Iraqi opposition politics. During this time, he developed close relationships with many of the figures who would go on to take posts in the new Iraqi government, but was concerned by the lack of unity and of political experience within the exile groups.

Persuaded of the urgent need to remove [[Saddam Hussein]], both for his crimes of mass-murder and in order for sanctions to be lifted, Al-Istrabadi was a keen supporter of the military action to remove the Baathist regime in 2003. He was involved intimately with the drafting of the Future of Iraq Plan, a project sponsored by the [[United States State Department of State|State Department]] which exiled Iraqis developed as a blueprint for the best course of action after the war. This led al-Istrabadi and other exiles to expect an American force large enough to secure the country and an immediate transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis when hostilities ended. This contrasted with the eventual execution of the war, which involved a minimal troop presence and direct American rule over Iraq for a year by [[Paul Bremer]].

Al-Istrabadi returned to Iraq in 2003 as the legal advisor to [[Adnan Pachachi]], Iraq's oldest and most experienced politician, who was later offered the Presidency but refused. As al-Pachachi's representative in the drafting committee of the [[Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period|Transitional Administrative Law]] (TAL), al-Istrabadi was one of the main Iraqi authors of the document, and was the primary author of the bill of rights.<ref name="indiana.edu">{{cite web|url=http://info.law.indiana.edu/faculty-research/faculty-staff/profiles/faculty/istrabadi-feisal-amin-rasoul.shtml|title=News and Media : Faculty & Research : Faculty Directory : Feisal Amin Rasoul Istrabadi : Indiana University Maurer School of Law: Bloomington|work=indiana.edu}}</ref>

He is also an Associate Director of the Center for Constitutional Democracy at the Law School.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ccd.indiana.edu/who/staff|title=Center for Constitutional Democracy: Staff|work=indiana.edu|access-date=2015-07-30|archive-date=2015-12-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222144315/http://ccd.indiana.edu/who/staff|url-status=dead}}</ref> In July 2010, Istrabadi became the founding director of Indiana University's Center for the Study of the Middle East.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://csme.indiana.edu/about/staff/al-istrabadi-feisal-amin-rasoul.html|title=Center for the Study of the Middle East|work=indiana.edu}}</ref> He is a member of the [[Crimes Against Humanity Initiative]] Advisory Council, a project of the [[Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute]] at [[Washington University in St. Louis School of Law|Washington University School of Law]] in St. Louis to establish the world’s first treaty on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity.