Start withdrawal of U.S. troops
Face the facts: Independent report finds little progress in Iraq.
September 9, 2007
Most Americans don't need government reports to know things aren't going well in Iraq. There are, however, plenty of reports. And more are coming. This week brings what some consider the most important report: one from the Bush administration to Congress regarding progress in Iraq. Top commander Gen. David Petraeus, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and President Bush are all to address Congress.
These reports could - and should - provide impetus for Congress to direct the president to begin an orderly withdrawal of troops.
The administration has too often presented choices about U.S. military involvement in Iraq as a false dichotomy: Stay until achieving "victory," or "cut and run." The reality lies somewhere in between. Even a swift withdrawal would take months.
It should begin now, while also ramping up diplomatic efforts to engage Iraq's neighbors in checking the spread of terrorist activity or sectarian violence beyond its borders.
Earlier this year, Congress set benchmarks to meet in Iraq and required the president to report to lawmakers on progress toward achieving them. Some lawmakers - including Sen. Charles Grassley - have said the administration's report this week was so important that they needed to wait for it before making any changes in the direction of the war.
But Congress already has in hand what might be the most important - and unbiased - assessment of conditions in Iraq. The Government Accountability Office issued it Tuesday.
The same legislation that required a report from the president required a similar report from the comptroller general. The GAO interviewed Petraeus and Crocker, plus several additional military officials. This thorough analysis was enhanced by the approximately 100 Iraq-related reports and testimonies the GAO has completed since 2003.
It found the Iraqi government has met only three of the 18 political, economic and security benchmarks contained in the legislation and partially met four. That's right: three of 18.
"Overall, key legislation has not been passed, violence remains high, and it is unclear whether the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion in reconstruction funds," David Walker, comptroller general, told Congress. It's not clear whether violence has decreased. Walker called the Iraqi government "dysfunctional."
The GAO assessment should carry more weight with lawmakers than a report from the Bush administration - notorious for trying to put an optimistic face on the war.
The GAO is an independent, investigative arm of Congress. Its report is harsher than a July report from the Bush administration. Why?
"They're not independent, and we are," Walker said.
Tribal militias continue to control some areas, law enforcement is not even-handed and the number of Iraqi military units that can operate independently actually declined from March to July, the GAO found.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi government fully met only one of eight legislative benchmarks. Of particular concern, the report said, is the failure to adopt reforms to promote greater Sunni participation in the government or to develop a mechanism for sharing oil revenues.
The lack of progress in reconciling Iraq's warring factions is particularly troubling because President Bush's rationale for this year's troop surge was to provide stability and time for legislative progress.
No one should expect Iraq's religious, tribal and ethnic factions to overcome centuries of enmity in a few months. But the benchmarks are realistic steps toward stability that the Iraqi government itself had committed to achieve.
It's unconscionable to continue placing U.S. soldiers in harm's way, in the crossfire of sectarian violence, when Iraqis are unwilling to make meaningful progress toward governing themselves. Starting to withdraw troops might, finally, force them to do so.
The report from the GAO alone should be enough evidence for Congress to start the process to bring our troops home.
