Another poliician with a vested interest in the outcome in Iraq has weighed in on the Iraq Study Group's recommendations. To no one's surprise, except maybe the American people, the advice gets panned.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Iraqi president said Sunday the bipartisan U.S. report calling for a new approach to the war offered dangerous recommendations that would undermine his country's sovereignty and were "an insult to the people of Iraq.
President Jalal Talabani was the most senior government official to take a stand against the Iraq Study Group report, which has come under criticism from leaders of the governing Shiite and Kurdish parties.
He said the report "is not fair, is not just, and it contains some very dangerous articles which undermine the sovereignty of Iraq and the constitution."
[...]
Sunni Arabs said they agree with the assessment of Iraq's problems in the report by the commission headed by former Republican Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton, but not the proposals to fix them.
Talabani said Iraqis were not intimidated by the report's threat to reduce political, military or economic support if the government in Baghdad cannot make substantial progress. The report said Iraqi leaders have failed to deliver better security or political compromises that would reduce violence, and it implied that a four-month joint U.S.-Iraqi military campaign to reduce violence in Baghdad is hopeless.
"I believe that President George Bush is a brave and committed man and he is adamant to support the Iraqi government until they've reached success," he said. He said setting conditions was "an insult to the people of Iraq."
The ISG turned the rare and difficult triple play here. In an effort to come up with solutions to help Iraq they managed to disappoint Sunnis, Shia and Kurds. Impressive.
Meanwhile, back in the States, Newsweek is touting a post-ISG poll that shows, by their reckoning, that Americans overwhelmingly support the Baker-Hamilton proposals.
Dec. 9, 2006 - Consensus. That was the watchword for Jim Baker and Lee Hamilton, co-chairmen of the Iraq Study Group, as they unveiled the panel’s long-awaited report. Like a pair of politically ecumenical Siamese twins, they trudged around Washington chanting their mantra: “We believe that a constructive solution requires that a new political consensus be built, a new consensus … at home and a new consensus abroad. And it is in that spirit that we have approached our study group’s task on a bipartisan basis,” said Baker. We “hope very much that in moving forward others will wish to continue to broaden and deepen the bipartisan spirit that has helped us come together.”
Mission accomplished. According to the new NEWSWEEK poll, Americans back the ISG’s recommendations by a two-to-one margin. In interviews with 1,000 adults done Dec. 6 and Dec. 7, 39 percent of Americans said they generally agree with the group’s 79 recommendations, while 20 percent said they disagree. (Twenty-six percent said, in effect: “Report, what report?”)
There's more there, but it's all nonsense. I guarantee you that of the 59% who actually took a position, less than 10% have actually read and thought about the consequences of each recommendation. This is a poll designed only to use the bludgeon of "popular opinion" to diminish both the options and status of President Bush, something that Newsweek has been at for quite some time.
Meanwhile, what's with this photo of a Jihadi wielding a machine gun at the Newsweek story?
Caption: An insurgent armed with a heavy machine gun stands on a street in Ramadi
Apparently the Reuters photographer who provided it has nothing to fear from a machine gun-wielding terrorist. Another Adnan Hajj?
12/10/06 1330: In yet another indication of the silliness of the ISG advice, the Iraninans seem to like the plan. (ht: Power Line)
