Iraq War: Grave & Deteriorating

The Iraq Study Group releases its final report, describing the situation in the Iraq War as "grave and deteriorating" and making seventy-nine policy recommendations, including *U.S. troops to end combat operations in Iraq and train Iraqi troops.

The report begins by laying out the difficulties surrounding the Iraq war and the current U.S. position. It warns that its policy recommendations are not failsafe, but that the deteriorating situation in Iraq could lead to political and humanitarian consequences if not dealt with immediately.

Five pages of the report addressed U.S. troop levels. Increasing those levels was not considered in depth as it was not considered a viable option. Rather, the report recommended that the removal of all U.S. troops from Iraq by 2008 could be envisaged.

The report mentions the little-known fact that U.S. funding for the Iraqi Army is at a level less than 4 percent of the funding for the U.S. occupation forces; that it lacks adequate equipment, maintenance services, logistical support, communications and transport capabilities; and that it is weak in leadership and unit cohesion.

The report also found that the U.S. government had intentionally misled the world by systematically distorting information about the violence in Iraq. Associated Press Military Writer Robert Burns reported:

The panel pointed to one day last July when U.S. officials reported 93 attacks or significant acts of violence. Yet a careful review of the reports for that single day brought to light 1,100 acts of violence. The standard for recording attacks acts as a filter to keep events out of reports and databases ... Good policy is difficult to make when information is systematically collected in a way that minimizes its discrepancy with policy goals.

Source: Wikipedia