One Utah

Remember the 18 benchmarks Congress spelled out in the Iraq supplemental appropriations bill passed two months ago and signed by President Bush on May 25, 2007? Here’s the list, in case anyone wants to keep score:

THE IRAQI GOVERNMENT’S BENCHMARKS

The United States strategy in Iraq, hereafter, shall be conditioned on the Iraqi government meeting benchmarks, as told to members of Congress by the President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and reflected in the Iraqi Government’s commitments to the United States, and to the international community, including:

1) Forming a Constitutional Review Committee and then completing the constitutional review.

2) Enacting and implementing legislation on de-Baathification.

3) Enacting and implementing legislation to ensure the equitable distribution of hydrocarbon resources of the people of Iraq without regard to the sect or ethnicity of recipients, and enacting and implementing legislation to ensure that the energy resources of Iraq benefit Sunni Arabs, Shia Arabs, Kurds, and other Iraqi citizens in an equitable manner.

4) Enacting and implementing legislation on procedures to form semi-autonomous regions.

5) Enacting and implementing legislation establishing an Independent High Electoral Commission, provincial elections law, provincial council authorities, and a date for provincial elections.

6) Enacting and implementing legislation addressing amnesty.

7) Enacting and implementing legislation establishing a strong militia disarmament program to ensure that such security forces are accountable only to the central government and loyal to the Constitution of Iraq.

8) Establishing supporting political, media, economic, and services committees in support of the Baghdad Security Plan.

9) Providing three trained and ready Iraqi brigades to support Baghdad operations.

10) Providing Iraqi commanders with all authorities to execute this plan and to make tactical and operational decisions, in consultation with U.S commanders, without political intervention, to include the authority to pursue all extremists, including Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias.

11) Ensuring that the Iraqi Security Forces are providing even handed enforcement of the law.

12) Ensuring that, according to President Bush, Prime Minister Maliki said ‘‘the Baghdad security plan will not provide a safe haven for any outlaws, regardless of [their] sectarian or political affiliation’’.

13) Reducing the level of sectarian violence in Iraq and eliminating militia control of local security.

14) Establishing all of the planned joint security stations in neighborhoods across Baghdad.

15) Increasing the number of Iraqi security forces units capable of operating independently.

16) Ensuring that the rights of minority political parties in the Iraqi legislature are protected.

17) Allocating and spending $10 billion in Iraqi revenues for reconstruction projects, including delivery of essential services, on an equitable basis.

18) Ensuring that Iraq’s political authorities are not undermining or making false accusations against members of the Iraqi Security Forces.

How many of these benchmarks, many of which were first announced last January, have been met? Only one that I’m aware of. The Iraqi Army did deploy three brigades to Baghdad, however they were under-strength. Two of the three were Kurdish brigades, and most members of these units could not speak Arabic. Lack of Iraqi forces continues to be a problem, according to Major General Lynch, commanding the 3rd Infantry Division south of Baghdad. The 3rd ID hasn’t even attempted to clear about a third of its assigned sector because there are not enough security forces to hold cleared areas.

An article in today’s Washington Post suggests that the Bush administration has realized that the benchmarks aren’t happening. Now they are trying to come up with “alternative evidence of progress” and hope to “persuade lawmakers to use more flexible, less ambitious standards.”

UPDATE: Talking Points Memo has more. The Maliki government is on the verge of collapse, and powerless to meet any of the Bush administration’s security or political goals.

UPDATE: Says the New York Times in a lengthy editorial: “It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit… It is frighteningly clear that Mr. Bush’s plan is to stay the course as long as he is president and dump the mess on his successor. Whatever his cause was, it is lost.”

UPDATE: IraqSlogger is preparing its own report card rating the Iraqi government on the benchmarks, and they are looking for input from readers.

UPDATE: Denying published reports, White House spokesman Tony Snow said Monday that the Bush administration isn’t even thinking about a change in course. “There’s no debate right now on withdrawing forces from Iraq,” Snow said.

UPDATE: The Associated Press confirms that a draft interim report concludes that the Iraqi government has met none of the benchmarks set forth last January.

UPDATE: In a classified report, the Bush administration claims that satisfactory progress is being made on eight of the benchmarks.

This entry was posted Sunday, July 8th, 2007 at 3:47 pm and is filed under Disaster, Iraq, National Politics, This Blog, War. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.