Will President Bush-Congress Listen to Iraq Study Group?

What has been particularly frustrating about the debate in Washington over Iraq is that everyone seems to be fighting one another and forgetting the fundamental mission of the war, writes Leon E. Panetta in an Op-Ed piece today in the New York Times.

He was a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and a member of the Iraq Study Group.

“Whether one is for or against the war, the key to stability is to have an Iraq that, in the words of the president himself, can ‘govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself.’

“Achieving that goal is largely dependent on the political reforms that Iraqi leaders have promised but failed to put in place in their country.

“As a member of the Iraq Study Group, I found that every military commander we talked to felt that the absence of national reconciliation was the fundamental cause of violence in Iraq.

“As one American general told us, if the Iraqi government does not make political progress on reforms, ‘all the troops in the world will not provide security.’

“Instead of dividing over the strategy on the war, the president and the Congress should make very clear to the Iraqis that there is no open-ended commitment to our involvement.

“As the Iraq Study Group recommended, Iraqi leaders must pay a price if they continue to fail to make good on key reforms that they have promised the Iraqi people…”

To read more please click here…

I wonder why with such sane advice coming from many quarters in the USA and elsewhere in the world, the people in power are just refusing to listen.

Soon the public could be out on the streets questioning the mental, physical, emotional state of the decision-makers…!!!