Baker reports

The Iraq Study Group has issued its long-awaited report:

Conditions in Iraq are "grave and deteriorating," with the prospect that a "slide toward chaos" could topple the U.S.-backed government and trigger a regional war unless the United States changes course and seeks a broader diplomatic and political solution involving all of Iraq's neighbors, according to a bipartisan panel that gave its recommendations to President Bush and Congress today.

[...]

The study group recommends that the United States withdraw nearly all of its combat units from Iraq by early 2008, sharply reducing the current troop level of more than 140,000 while leaving behind tens of thousands of U.S. military personnel to advise, train and embed with Iraqi forces.

It also recommends that Bush threaten to reduce economic and military support for Iraq's government if it fails to meet specific benchmarks intended to improve security in the country. It suggests that the Bush administration open talks with Iran and Syria about ways to end the violence in Iraq, proposes holding a regional conference to bring together all of Iraq's neighbors and urges Bush to aggressively tackle the Israeli-Palestinian dispute to reduce the broader regional tensions fueling the Iraq conflict.

An executive summary can be read here (PDF format). Reducing the number of American troops in Iraq, and giving them more of an advisory/training role, is probably better than the status quo. And, sadly, the "grave and deteriorating" assessment is beyond dispute.

It's the stuff about talking to Iran and Syria that worries me. Not only does it rest on the assumption that they want to help America save face in Iraq, it legitimizes two of the most repulsive dictatorships on earth as "peace partners."

"Aggressively tackle the Israeli-Palestinian dispute" is code for, "force the Israelis to make a deal with the people who want them wiped off the face of the earth."

Damian P.

Posted by damian at December 6, 2006 01:58 PM