The last several whirlwind days of meetings, speeches, leaks and speculation about the future course of the war in Iraq will culminate Wednesday with the formal release of the Iraq Study Group’s report, but the real impact of that document is uncertain.
The Bush administration, which suffered a rebuke of its war strategy in the midterm elections, has spent the last few days attempting to position itself as flexible about future directions in Iraq.
The president’s national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, made the rounds of talk shows over the weekend, repeatedly saying the president would be receptive to ideas for a “new way forward” in Iraq.
We hope that’s the case, but history and President Bush’s recent public statements suggest otherwise. The president has displayed notable stubbornness in clinging to his “stay the course” policy, though that term is now in disfavor.
He pointedly has brushed aside any notion of a planned exit from Iraq. Bush also has telegraphed that he has little interest in what’s thought to be another of the major recommendations of the report, to begin more aggressive diplomatic efforts with Iran and Syria.
In Jordan last week, Bush said, “We’ll be in Iraq until the job is complete.” And in Latvia recently he said: “There’s one thing I’m not going to do: I’m not going to pull the troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete.”
Bush is said to favor what is expected to be another commission suggestion, to significantly increase the number of U.S. trainers embedded in Iraqi units.
Many of the recommendations of the 10-member panel, appointed in March by Congress, already have leaked out. They include a phased pullback of U.S. troops in Iraq combined with a set of incentives and deterrents for the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The report is said to propose the continued presence of American troops so long as Iraqis crack down on the militias that have killed so many.
But there is grave concern that the sectarian violence in Iraq is spinning out of control and that Maliki’s government is unwilling or unable to stop it.
It has been 3 1/2 years since the United States invaded Iraq. The results have been disastrous, and the nation can no longer afford blind adherence to war plans that haven’t worked. We hope the release of the study group’s report is a catalyst at least for new and more effective strategies and tactics, and for urgency in executing such plans.
