Bush report sharpens Iraq debate
The White House says progress on eight of 18 'benchmarks' is a reason for optimism.
from the July 13, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
The report also cites positive development in areas not originally included as benchmarks. It notes, and Bush emphasized, the growing number of Sunni tribes in Iraq's Anbar Province that have turned against Al Qaeda-affiliated groups and claim to be ready to join the United States in fighting Islamic extremists.
The interim report now increases pressure on the administration to report political progress when it next delivers an assessment. In September, Gen. David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, is expected to report to Congress on the strategy, along with Ryan Crocker, US ambassador to Iraq.
Some Republican lawmakers stressed the interim nature of Thursday's report – and called for patience over congressional action at this point. "I don't think anybody on either side of the aisle is particularly happy with the Iraqi government, but we need to wait until September to see where we are going," said Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Yet Senate Democrats say the report confirms the need to act now. "The war in Iraq is headed in a dangerous direction. The Iraqi government has not met a single political benchmark in its entirety – and these are benchmarks they set themselves," said Senate majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada. "It is well past time for a change in course in Iraq. The time to do this is now, not September."
Some analysts say a current overemphasis on the military role suggests the administration does not yet acknowledge the determining nature of Iraq's political state of affairs.
"There is still a tendency in the administration to see this as a military battle with a military outcome," said James Miller, a military expert at the Center for a New American Security, at a Washington forum evaluating the strategy this week. Regional and international diplomatic initiatives to address the Iraq conflict "are still way below what they need to be."
Bush announced he is sending Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the Middle East in early August. On one level, that step will allow the administration in September to claim that diplomacy has not been shortchanged.
Indeed, the initiative will allow the White House to point to other than a military effort, given that little political progress in Iraq is anticipated in the weeks before the September assessment. The Iraqi government continues to be hobbled by boycotts by key ministers, in particular the Sunni bloc. The Iraqi parliament, which has yet to receive some key legislation from the government, including a crucial bill for oil revenue-sharing among sectarian communities, is set to take a month-long recess in August.
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