Iraq Study Group
From dKosopedia
Categories: Iraq | National commissions
The Iraq Study Group, also known as the Baker-Hamilton Commission, was appointed by Congress in March 2006 and officially tasked to devise a fresh set of policies for the Iraq War. In reality the group appears destined to provide the senior second Bush administration officials responsible for the bloody quagmire with ideological cover, a means of avoiding being held accountable by the American people.
The Commission has ten members, half of them Republicans and half of them Democrats. Unfortunately for America, none of the ten have ever demonstrated any special understanding of Iraqi domestic politics and none of the ten are members of the peace movement. The group spent all of four days in Iraq and several of the group never dared to leave the Green Zone. Unsurprisingly, their Official Report offered compromise recommendations the most "important" of which was for a gradual pull-out of U.S. troops without a timetable. The official report described the situation in Iraq as "grave" and "deteriorating." Any progressive could have told you that back in 2004.
So why are the major news sources treating this report of the obvious as "news?" Apparently because it comes out of the mouths of presumed political heavy-weights. If the major news sources had been listening to and reporting the views of progressives America wouldn't be having this discussion two years late.
Not only is its report useless but Republicans will use it to compromise Democrats as being responsible for the continuation of the war. As such it provides President Bush and the Republicans with political cover. Comments made by Republican ISG member and foremr U.S. Senator Alan Simpson revealed the intention to spread the blame for the Republican War in Iraq as widely as possible.
What America needs are courageous leaders who refuse to use euphemisms to avoid mentioning the 4 ton elephant in the room: The second Bush administration should not have invaded Iraq and as a consequence of that original disastrous decision there is no way for the U.S. to install a pro-American government in Baghdad that can survive on its own. Iraq is in the middle of a bloody civil war and it is the fault of the Republians and the neo-conservative cabal in control of second Bush administration foreign policy.
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Members
- James Addison Baker III, Co-Chair; secretary of state under President George H.W. Bush
- Lee H. Hamilton, Co-Chair; former Democrat Congressman from Indiana
- Vernon Jordan, lawyer and friend of President Bill Clinton
- Edwin Meese III, attorney general under President Ronald Reagan
- Sandra Day O'Connor, retired Supreme Court Justice
- Leon E. Panetta, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton
- William J. Perry, secretary of defense under President Bill Clinton
- Charles Robb, former Republican senator from Virginia
- Alan Simpson, former Republican senator from Wyoming
- Lawrence S. Eagleburger, former secretary of state under President George H.W. Bush, replaced Gates
Former Members
- Robert M. Gates, former Director and CIA director and Iran-Contragate Scandal Suspect who was nominated to be next Secretary of Defense.
- Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York, was forced to resign after two months, because he failed to attend a single meeting.
Official Report
- Online
- The Iraq Study Group Report: The Way Forward - A New Approach - in book form, ISBN 0307386562
External Links
- Official website.
- The 'Centrist' Position on the War in Iraq
- Iraq Group a Study In Secrecy, Centrism by Robin Wright, Washington Post, Nov. 26, 2006, p. A21.
- Iraq Study Group - SourceWatch.
- Iraq Study Group - Wikipedia.
- Predictions DIRECTLY From Baker's Iraq Study Group - DailyKos diary.
- Iraq Study Group Member's Campaign Contributions
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