Fossella vs. Iraq Study Group

Last week the Iraq Study Group, aka the Baker Commiussion, named after James Baker former Sec. of State for former President George H. Bush, released its findings on the state of affairs in Iraq. Not too surprising their outlook was not good and often were critical of the President and Congress's 'stay the course' mantra and refusal to admit their optimistic naïveté.

First, from a CNN interview, here is Rep. Fossella's (R) position on Iraq, something we covered back during the election here;

FOSSELLA: No, I think that clearly we have to stay the course in Iraq. Nobody said this job was going to be easy, including the president of the United States.

FOSSELLA: The president of the United States, as he said a couple of weeks ago in his press conference, believes that the United States must stay the course.

SNIP

And we will stay the course and until the job is done. And, ultimately, not only will the Iraqi people have the same freedoms that we enjoy here in America to pick their own leaders, but we can rest assured that there will be a stable democracy in the Middle East that will help us and others bring peace and stability and security to the American people.

And this from the bipartisan commission;

"There is no guarantee for success in Iraq . . . There is great suffering, and the daily lives of many Iraqis show little or no improvement. Pessimism is pervasive . . . the ability of the United States to influence events . . . is diminishing." (p.1)

"U.S. forces seem to be caught in a mission that has no foreseeable end." (p.12)

"There is no action the American military can take that, by itself, can bring about success in Iraq." (page 70)

"The United States must not make an open ended commitment to keep large numbers of American troops deployed in Iraq." (p.xvi)

"Many military units are under significant strain . . . many units do not have fully functional equipment for training when they redeploy to the United States." (p.7)