The Bush Administration’s Iraq strategy has been a failure from day one. American troops have done everything asked of them, but military and civilian leaders agree that the solution to what has become a civil war lies in Iraqi politics. The reckless strategy has taken our eye off Al Qaeda, weakened our military and squandered our leverage around the globe. It’s time to end the war, begin removing our forces from Iraq, ask the Iraqi Government to stand on its own and focus on our real security priorities around the world.
Report
2 September 2008
Iraq is entering a pivotal period. With little political reconciliation between Sunnis and Shia since the surge began a year and a half ago, the U.S. has now begun to transfer authority over the predominately Sunni Anbar province to the Shia-dominated Iraqi government. While conservatives have prematurely declared victory in Iraq, progressives have consistently warned that political reconciliation and the establishment of the Iraqi government will be the hard part.
Report
22 August 2008
It may not have seemed possible for things to get any worse for the Bush administration after last week, when the world witnessed the full-circle collapse of the Bush’s personality-driven approach towards Putin’s Russia and Musharraf’s Pakistan. Yet not only did the extent of the President’s failed policy toward Pakistan and Russia become more clear, but the events of the week also demonstrated the bankruptcy of the conservative approach toward Iraq, Afghanistan, and Europe.
Report
21 August 2008
In his last days commanding U.S. forces in Iraq, General Petraeus issued words of caution – the security gains that had been achieved were “tenuous.” The increase in U.S. forces played an important role in creating the decrease in violence, but during this time almost no progress has been made on political reconciliation.
News
The Washington Independent 13 August 2008
Report
8 August 2008
Reports out of Baghdad are that the Bush administration and the Iraqi Government are close to an agreement that would include a timetable for the withdrawal of American combat forces by the end of 2010. While close to the timetable proposed by Barack Obama, John McCain continues to cling to the idea of a permanent American presence in Iraq.
News
Council on Foreign Relations 6 August 2008
Report
4 August 2008
This weekend Iraq’s leaders again failed to agree on a new provincial elections law, and a new wave of protests and bombings shook the region. It is a reminder that the reduction in violence we have seen recently is heavily predicated on political success.
News
The Myrtle Beach Sun-News 2 August 2008
Report
31 July 2008
It appears increasingly clear that a status of forces agreement with Iraq will move toward policies long held by the Administration’s progressive critics. Specifically, the Administration has apparently acquiesced to the Iraqi government’s demand that a security agreement contain a flexible timetable for the withdrawal of US combat forces by 2010.
Iraq