Feisal al-Istrabadi
Encyclopedia
Feisal Amin al-Istrabadi is an Iraqi politician and diplomat who represents Iraq at the United Nations as Deputy Permanent Representative. In 2004 he was one of the main drafters of Iraq's Transitional Administrative Law (TAL).
, in the 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.
Feisal's grandfather, al-Hajj Mahmoud al-Istrabadi, had been one of the drafters of Iraq's first constitution in 1925. His aunt, Lam'an Amin Zaki, had been in the delegation of women that went to Istanbul to seek the hand of the future wife of King Feisal II, who was later killed in the coup. During the coup, in July 1958, Feisal's grandmother Bibiya al-Istrabadi tried to smuggle Prime Minister Nuri al-Said to safety. She was killed in the attempt, along with al-Said, when they were discovered leaving Baghdad.
Soon after Feisal's birth, his family moved back to Baghdad, as the situation had calmed there. He spent his childhood in the Iraqi capital until 1970, when the aftermath of the Baath Party
's coup two years previously forced his family to move again, this time to Bloomington, Indiana.
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 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.
, Iraq's oldest and most experienced statesman, who was later offered the Presidency but refused. As al-Pachachi's representative in the drafting committee of the 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.
Rebuilding a Nation. Myths, Realities, and Solutions in Iraq, in: Harvard International Review (July 8, 2007)
Democracy in Iraq, a paper written and submitted to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations at the time of the Senate hearings on Iraq, July 31 and August 1.
Background and early life
Al-Istrabadi was born in VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, in the United States of America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, 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.
Feisal's grandfather, al-Hajj Mahmoud al-Istrabadi, had been one of the drafters of Iraq's first constitution in 1925. His aunt, Lam'an Amin Zaki, had been in the delegation of women that went to Istanbul to seek the hand of the future wife of King Feisal II, who was later killed in the coup. During the coup, in July 1958, Feisal's grandmother Bibiya al-Istrabadi tried to smuggle Prime Minister Nuri al-Said to safety. She was killed in the attempt, along with al-Said, when they were discovered leaving Baghdad.
Soon after Feisal's birth, his family moved back to Baghdad, as the situation had calmed there. He spent his childhood in the Iraqi capital until 1970, when the aftermath of the Baath Party
Baath Party
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party was a political party mixing Arab nationalist and Arab socialist interests, opposed to Western imperialism, and calling for the renaissance or resurrection and unification of the Arab world into a single state. Ba'ath is also spelled Ba'th or Baath and means...
's coup two years previously forced his family to move again, this time to Bloomington, Indiana.
Opposition politics
Al-Istrabadi received a doctorate in law from Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
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 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.
Return to Iraq
Al-Istrabadi returned to Iraq in 2003 as the legal advisor to Adnan PachachiAdnan Pachachi
Adnan al-Pachachi or Adnan Muzahim Amin al-Pachachi is a veteran Iraqi politician and diplomat. Pachachi was Iraq's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1959 to 1965 and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq from 1965 to 1967; he again served as Permanent Representative to the UN...
, Iraq's oldest and most experienced statesman, who was later offered the Presidency but refused. As al-Pachachi's representative in the drafting committee of the 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.
Current Iraqi Governmental Service
Prior to his diplomatic appointment, Ambassador Istrabadi served as legal advisor to the Iraqi Minister for Foreign Affairs during the negotiations for U.N. Security Council resolution 1546 of 8 June 2004, which recognized the reassertion by Iraq of its sovereignty. In 2004, Al-Istrabadi was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Deputy Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations. Beginning in the fall of 2007, Al-Istrabadi relocated to Bloomington, Indiana, where he is a visiting professor at the Indiana University School of Law, and is also involved in teaching at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs.Publications
Islam and the State in Iraq: The Post-2003 Constitutions, in: Rainer Grote and Tilmann Röder (eds.), Constitutionalism in Islamic Countries: Between Upheaval and Continuity (Oxford University Press, February 2011)Rebuilding a Nation. Myths, Realities, and Solutions in Iraq, in: Harvard International Review (July 8, 2007)
Democracy in Iraq, a paper written and submitted to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations at the time of the Senate hearings on Iraq, July 31 and August 1.