Editorial: True state of Iraq exposed by study group’s report

Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006 | 7:10 a.m.

The stark and shockingly grim report by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group should put an end to the charade that President Bush has been conducting over the past two years.

At nearly every appearance, radio broadcast, interview or press conference where the subject of Iraq has come up, Bush has spoken piously of his own policies, optimistically about the progress of the war and dismissively toward those who asked if the carnage reported daily from Iraq wasn't proof of a much darker scenario.

What the group's findings represent is a complete repudiation of the Bush administration's conduct of the war.

Chartered by Congress, the study group was led by Republican James Baker, who served as secretary of state under the first President Bush. The co-leader was Lee Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana and a member of the 9/11 Commission. The group was composed of five Republicans and five Democrats, ensuring a bipartisan consensus.

It is clear from the language of the report that the biggest mistake by Bush was failing to learn - before ordering the invasion - how deep the divisions were between the Sunni and Shiite populations of Iraq.

Any good that has come from the Iraq war - the downfall of Saddam Hussein, the formation of a government, the writing and passage of a constitution - is now threatened by the sectarian fighting that has progressed beyond our means to control.

"No one can guarantee that any course of action in Iraq at this point will stop sectarian warfare, growing violence or a slide toward chaos," Baker and Hamilton wrote in a letter accompanying the report.

Bush's first two reasons for going to war - Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and was planning to attack us with them, and that he also had links to the 9/11 attacks plotted by al-Qaida - proved to be false incitements for whipping up support for the war.

Bush's last and final reason for going to war was to bring democracy to Iraq as a first step in spreading Western-style freedom throughout the Arab world. The report says this reason, for which more than 2,900 U.S. troops and uncountable thousands of Iraqi civilians have lost their lives, is gravely endangered by the sectarian fighting.

"Ethnic cleansing could escalate. The Iraqi people could be subjected to another strongman who flexes the political and military muscle required to impose order amid anarchy. Freedoms could be lost," the report says.

Frighteningly, the report adds: "If the situation continues to deteriorate, the consequences could be severe. A slide toward chaos could trigger the collapse of Iraq's government and a humanitarian catastrophe. Neighboring countries could intervene. Sunni-Shia clashes could spread. Al-Qaida could win a propaganda victory and expand its base of operations. The global standing of the United States could be diminished. Americans could become more polarized."

The report lists 79 recommendations for averting these ever-growing possibilities. Among them are initiating strong diplomatic efforts with Iraq's neighbors, including Syria and Iran, and working much harder to foster peace between Israelis and Palestinians, so as to defuse the tension that characterizes all of the Middle East.

Also recommended:

The authors of the report also advised not to pick and choose among the recommendations, but to implement them "in a coordinated fashion."

The president should drop the pretense that he knows what he is doing in Iraq and work with Congress on following the recommendations of those who do know about that region, including those from the Iraq Study Group.