LAT: The Iraq Study Group Report: Blunt talk for an audience of one

[DeepModem Mom]

Blunt talk for an audience of one
Panel's language makes it hard for the president to paint a rosy picture, but recommendations give him plenty of leeway.
By Doyle McManus, Times Staff Writer
December 6, 2006



WASHINGTON — Some bipartisan commissions try to change public opinion on contentious national issues; others try to help Congress find compromise solutions to thorny problems.

The Iraq Study Group led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Rep. Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.) had a different — and unusual — goal: persuading President Bush to change his mind about staying the course in Iraq.

"This is highly unusual," an adviser to the group said today, after the panel released its final report. "It's one thing for people inside the administration to tell the president what to do. But for an outside group to say, 'Here, son, let us give you a road map for your foreign policy?' That's remarkable."...

The first part of the report was an assessment of the situation in Iraq as "grave and deteriorating" — tough language that Baker and his colleagues deliberately chose to try to break through the shield of defiant confidence that Bush has often deployed on the issue of Iraq.

"At least, after this report, Bush will now be prevented from painting a rosy picture," the adviser said....

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-assess7dec07,0,7968172.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[luckyleftyme2]

1. HE WILL NOT CHANGE

HE'LL GO DOWN IN THE OK CORRAL AND TAKE US WITH HIM!

[NJCher]

2. Love that headline

Audience of one.

Finally--finally--they have come around. Blood is on their hands, regardless. Where was the critical thinking about this war when it counted?




Cher