Second Life for Study Group

[kskiska]

Source: WP

Monday, May 21, 2007; A01

After an initially tepid reception from policymakers, the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group are getting a second look from the White House and Congress, as officials continue to scour for bipartisan solutions to salvage the American engagement in Iraq.

With negotiations continuing this week on a new war funding bill, the administration is strongly signaling that it would accept the idea of requiring the Iraqi government to meet political benchmarks or else risk losing some assistance from the United States. That was one of the key proposals from the group headed by former secretary of state James A. Baker III and former Indiana congressman Lee H. Hamilton, but it was initially dismissed by the White House when first proposed last December.

The administration is also preparing for its first substantive discussions with Iran, to begin on Memorial Day, not long after its first high-level talks with Syria in four years. The Iraq Study Group had strongly urged such regional diplomacy aimed at fostering a political settlement and bringing down the sectarian violence in Baghdad.

"They are coming our way," Hamilton said in a recent interview.

The comeback of the Iraq Study Group's suggestions underscores the intense desire by some in Washington to fashion a workable long-term policy on Iraq. The months since the commission issued its report have seen increased polarization, with Democrats mostly united in their desire to end American involvement in the war and President Bush struggling to buy time for additional troops to pacify Baghdad.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/20/AR2007052001406.html?hpid=topnews

[swag]

1. Good post. Go read the whole article for a clear picture of the

legislative legs this thing, whether you like it or not, is growing.

[sutz12]

2. It's a pity we have to drag Bush & Co kicking and screaming to a common sense solution. nt

[kskiska]

3. "flaming turd"

(snip)

…Informed correspondents of the Washington Post and New York Times related in conversation that Bush furiously called the report "a flaming turd," but his colorful remark was not published. Perhaps it was apocryphal. Nonetheless, it conveyed the intensity of his hostile rejection.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2007/01/10/condi_rice/print.html

[nashville_brook]

4. so, we can assume that the sudden resurgence of the Study Group isn't b/c of chimpy

[EFerrari]

6. No -- that might involve study, reading or thinking. n/t

[Barrett808]

5. "...after violence in Baghdad is brought under control."

So that will be...never.