Calling herself “an optimist who worries a lot,” former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright kept a capacity crowd in rapt attention as she discussed world affairs at the opening session of the GIA Symposium in San Diego.
Much of her talk was on current events—particularly Iraq and the Middle East. “I have written in my book, and I hope it doesn't come true, that I think Iraq will go down in history as America's greatest foreign policy disaster,” she said. “More than three years after the invasion, Iraq is divided and unstable, its future clouded by the threat of a full-fledged civil war.”
She suggested that the war in Iraq has strengthened Iran, “its longtime opponent.” She recommended everyone read Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq by Thomas E. Ricks, for insight on the current situation. She predicted that American troops would eventually have