Three Iraq Reports

[ProSense]

The Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq

The Government Accountability Office progress report on Iraq

The National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq


Summary: Bush's escalation is a failure!

[Subdivisions]

1. Rec #2. But fear not for Petraeus will bring tidings of great

joy as he proclaims the surge a success...but only if we give it until Christmas. Then we'll be able to allow the Iraqis to stand up while we stand down...beginning in April. But it will take 1 1/2 years to begin the preparations for withdrawing our troops.

[stillcool]

2. Pretty sad.....a few "highlight's"

We assess, to the extent that Coalition forces continue to conduct robust
counterinsurgency operations and mentor and support the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF),
that Iraq’s security will continue to improve modestly during the next six to 12 months
but that levels of insurgent and sectarian violence will remain high and the Iraqi
Government will continue to struggle to achieve national-level political reconciliation
and improved governance

Iraqi Security Forces involved in combined operations with Coalition forces have
performed adequately, and some units have demonstrated increasing professional
competence. However, we judge that the ISF have not improved enough to conduct
major operations independent of the Coalition on a sustained basis in multiple locations
and that the ISF remain reliant on the Coalition for important aspects of logistics and
combat support.
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• Over the next year Tehran, concerned about a Sunni reemergence in Iraq and US efforts
to limit Iranian influence, will continue to provide funding, weaponry, and training to
Iraqi Shia militants. Iran has been intensifying aspects of its lethal support for select
groups of Iraqi Shia militants, particularly the JAM, since at least the beginning of 2006.
Explosively formed penetrator (EFP) attacks have risen dramatically.
http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/20070823_release.pdf