Today is the day, 6 December 2006, the bipartisan Iraq Study Group (see this post) released their report.
Of course, even before the full ISG report released today, the group itself had already given some recommendations to President Bush.
From a Washington Post article:
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The bipartisan Iraq Study Group plans to recommend to President Bush that he threaten to reduce economic and military support for Iraq's government if it fails to meet specific benchmarks intended to improve security in the country, a source familiar with the report said yesterday.
The congressionally chartered panel, which is due to deliver its much-anticipated report to Bush at the White House this morning and then unveil it to the public, outlined diplomatic and military ideas intended to change the course of the 44-month-old war. Among other things, the source said, the report urges Bush to aggressively tackle the Israeli-Palestinian dispute to reduce the broader regional tensions fueling the Iraq conflict.
The latest details to emerge from the commission's report help flesh out a plan that also calls for the United States to withdraw nearly all combat units by early 2008 while leaving behind tens of thousands of troops to advise, train and embed with Iraqi forces. The report suggests that the Bush administration open talks with Iran and Syria about ways to end the violence in Iraq and proposes holding a regional conference to bring together all of Iraq's neighbors.
Not since the 9/11 Commission has a report generated so much public scrutiny and widespread speculation in Washington.Says a CFR article.
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Continuing with my usage of three letter acronyms today, a CJR article penned by Paul McLeary says the media may have more presidential influence than the report they are "obsessively" covering. Well, it's not like the Group is new news, Baker and Co. have been working for a while now, only really reported after the elections. The word "Iraq" is one the GOP tried to keep out of its midterm lexicon, not for the least a group recommending a realistic stance on Iraq. Article summary:
...in the end it may be inevitable and incessant buzz surrounding the report's findings, more than the findings themselves, which spur presidential action.
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