Baker report on conduct of the Iraq war and options available

By: John_York

James Baker & Lee Hamilton heading the Iraq Study group commission report on the conduct of the war in Iraq and charged with correcting the US course in Iraq is due to be released by the end of this year. We look ahead at what the report is likely to contain.

• To adopt a more multilateral approach to solving Iraq's problems by engaging in talks with neighbour states such as Iran and Syria, also to pursue a wider regional conference to discuss the situation in Iraq.
• Iraqi government to be given a time table for implementing security goals.
• US forces to plan to redeploy to neighbouring states such as Saudi Arabia and to large desert bases and used to support Iraqi troops in large operations as the security conditions improve.
• The United States to NOT to totally withdraw in the foreseeable future, but to stay the course and continue to build Iraqi security infrastructure, as a withdrawal would lead to chaos and potentially civil war.

James Baker is a close ally of the Bush Family and by and large the report is expected to be weak in criticism of the wars operation, seeking to whitewash the current disastrous situation after 3 years of occupation of Iraq. It appears the main aim of the report will be to give the Democratic and Republican parties a chance at a framework for agreement on the policy over Iraq, and thus likely to placate the Democrats.

The Democrats during the election where forefront in the call for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq over the next 6 months, this is now likely to change following the report with a more symbolic withdrawal and redeployment within the region.

Meanwhile, Democratic leaders are lining up behind legislation that would extend an investigative office that unearthed millions of dollars in waste and fraud associated with the rebuilding of Iraq. The inspector general focused on companies like Halliburton and Bechtel. The problems it found included a proposal by the U.S. Agency for International Development to build a 50 bed pediatric hospital in Basra, for which Congress authorised $50 million. The project, awarded to Bechtel National Inc., became a 94-bed facility with estimated to cost $98 million that won't be finished until July next year, rather than the initial goal of December 2005.

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