USA: Iraq Study Group chairmen say "stay-the-course" approach in Iraq is "no longer viable"

The United States should begin to withdraw forces from combat and launch a diplomatic push, including Iran and Syria, to prevent "a slide toward chaos" in Iraq, an elite panel recommended on Wednesday (December 6). The influential, bipartisan group offered a pessimistic assessment of circumstances in Iraq and painted a nightmare scenario of rampant violence and spreading unrest across the region if the United States fails to stabilize the country. Former U.S. congressman Lee Hamilton summed up highlights from the group's 79 recommendations. "Our three most important recommendations are equally important and reinforce one another. First, a change in the primary mission of U.S. forces in Iraq that will enable the United States to begin to move its combat forces out of Iraq responsibly. Two, prompt action by the Iraqi government to achieve milestones, particularly on national reconciliation. And, three, a new and enhanced diplomatic and political efforts in Iraq and in the region. United States must encourage Iraqis to take responsibility for their own destiny. This responsible transition can allow for a reduction in the U.S. presence in Iraq over time." The Iraq Study Group also urged Washington to reduce its political, military or economic support if Iraq's government fails to advance security and reconciliation in the country, where, after almost four years of war, sectarian violence kills scores of people every day. The group called for the diplomatic push to begin by the end of the year and recommended the U.S. military strengthen its effort to train Iraqi forces by increasing the number of U.S. forces engaged in such work to 20,000 from about 4,000. "A military solution alone will not end the violence in Iraq. We must help the Iraqis help themselves. President Bush and his national security team should convey a clear message to Iraqi leaders: The United States will support them if they take prompt action to make substantial progress toward the achievement of milestones on national reconciliation, security and improving the daily lives of Iraqis. If the Iraqi government does not make substantial progress toward the achievement of milestones, the United States then should reduce its political, military or economic support to the Iraqi government," Hamilton said. While it set no hard timetables for withdrawal of U.S. forces, the group said that by the first quarter of 2008, U.S. combat troops not needed for "force protection" could be out of Iraq, depending on security conditions in the country. Among its unanimous recommendations, the group also called for the White House to overcome its resistance to dealing directly with Iran and Syria, whom U.S. officials accuse of fomenting the Iraqi insurgency, and to press for a "comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace" to settle that festering conflict. "The United States should promptly initiate a new diplomatic offensive, and working with the government of Iraq should create an international Iraq support group to address comprehensively the political, economic and military matters necessary to provide stability in Iraq. That support group should include Iraq, of course, but also all of Iraq's neighbours, including Iran and Syria, the key regional states, including Egypt and the Gulf states, the United Nations Security Council Perm 5 member countries, a representative of the United Nations secretary general, and the European Union. Given the central importance of the Arab-Israeli conflict to many countries both in and out of the region, the United States must again initiate active negotiations to achieve a stable Arab-Israeli peace on all fronts and in the manner that we outline specifically in the report," Co-Chairman James Baker said. Baker, a former Secretary of State under the administration of President George H. W. Bush said that a course correction was needed in Iraq. "We do not recommend a stay-the-course solution. In our opinion, that approach is no longer viable. While we do recommend a five-fold increase in U.S. forces training Iraqi troops, from let's say from a high of 4,000 to a high of 20,000, we do not recommend increasing U.S. forces by in excess of 100,000 troops, as some have suggested," Baker said. U.S. President George W. Bush said he would take the much-anticipated report "very seriously" after he met the group but the White House has made clear he will not be bound by its ideas and has begun its own review of Iraq policy. More than 3-1/2 years after the March 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, about 140,000 American troops remain in Iraq fighting an insurgency and trying to stop savage sectarian strife between Shi'ites and Sunnis.

ITN Source | December 7, 2006

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