Anthony H. Cordesman

Anthony Cordesman, holder of the Arleigh A Burke Chair in strategy at the prestigious Washington think tank, the Center For Strategic And International Studies (CSIS), is a veteran of US political efforts in the Arab world and an open supporter of the United States administration's stance that the situation in Iraq necessitates war. He does downplay expectations that US soldiers will be welcomed as "liberators" in Baghdad, however, dismissing the notion as divorced from reality.

Cordesman has written extensively on security and strategy issues in the gulf region and the Arab world, including the Arab-Israeli military balance. A former Georgetown professor, Cordesman has held positions at the Department of Defence, Department of Energy and the State Department and has had numerous foreign assignments, including posts in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran and Lebanon