The long-awaited report of the Iraq Study Group was released Wednesday and it paints a grim picture of that war-torn country. The candor is refreshing; no policy can succeed if it is not based on reality. Not surprisingly, the conclusions constitute a fundamental revision of U.S. policy. But signals from the White House indicate that U.S. President George W. Bush is not inclined to heed the group's advice.
The Iraq Study Group (ISG) was established in March 2006 at the urging of several members of Congress to assess the situation in Iraq, evaluate U.S. policy and come up with recommendations. The 10-person bipartisan panel was evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans and was cochaired by former Secretary of State James Baker and Mr. Lee Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana. It conducted hearings and meetings with 171 people, drew on the work of several expert groups, met with President Bush and key members of his national security team several times, and even visited Iraq. That work yielded a 142-page report, released Wednesday (in Washington), that included 79 specific and unanimous recommendations.
The ISG begins with a blunt warning: "The situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating." A continued slide could result in the collapse of the Baghdad government, a humanitarian catastrophe, Sunni-Shiite clashes throughout the region, enhanced status for al-Qaida and greater damage to the U.S. global standing.
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