Response: The report of the Iraq Study Group, far from the change of course that commentators alternately praise and denounce, is a recipe for drift.

Its recommendations for invigorated regional diplomacy, while more sensible than the Bush administration’s approach, stand no chance of being implemented. More importantly, its proposals specific to Iraq have been outpaced by events on the ground. Though f... more

Response: Perhaps the greatest failing of the report is that it should have been commissioned in 2003 not 2006. They were tasked with an insurmountable challenge of proposing solutions to what they and many others see as a no-win scenario.

The Iraq Study Group report is schizophrenic. The analysis is spot on, a devastating critique of US foreign policy that has shaken the White House and its allies to i... more

Response: The significance of the Report goes beyond the question of whether the US administration acts upon its recommendations or not. By way of recognizing and pointing to the regional dimension of insecurity in the Middle East/Arab World/Muslim World, and calling for a ‘comprehensive strategy’, the Report has already made its mark.

The Iraqi Study Group (ISG) Report, released on December 6, 2006, ... more

Summary: Will Bush accept the ISG recommendations?

Response: The jury, as they say, is in, and the verdict is far from pleasant for President Bush.

The ten-member bipartisan Iraq Study Group chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker III and former Indiana Democrat Representative Lee Hamilton released their report last week after nine months of intensive labor. The results amounts to the most severe critique of the Bush administration’s hard–headed... more