The Iraq Study Group Unloads More Bad News On POTUS

On Monday, I was enjoying the kind of day George Bush was having. That particular day, his trouble had indeed come in threes. Now, the Baker Commission Report has been released.

They took the middle road on the Iraq invasion and occupation, in many ways. . .and yet, in the end, it is a rehash of every misstep and f***up that has occured since 2001. They took the middle road, but these days even the middle road allows that we have made a grievous mistake oursuing this war. The ISG does not actually point fingers, but they do come up with 79 recommendations--none of which remotely suggest that we stay the course. Interestingly, at least some of the commission are serious Bush partisans. Baker, you might remember, helped him in November 2000, when he lost the popular vote, and the electoral votes were under serious challenge. Sandy Day O'Connor was one of the Supreme votes that went his way, and ended the election in his favor.

The Bush administration was not involved in creating the ISG, but the White House welcomed it, and has provided access to people, documents, and travel to Iraq. I should say The Administration welcomed the styudy group until this week, when their findings were another frontal assault on The President. Following the earlier embarrassments of this week, the study group's finding were just another nail in the coffin. The group has been focused--and their report tows the line--on a forward-looking assessment of the situation in Iraq, including advice on how to fix or ameliorate the disaster.

The Troublemakers:

Former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III (R) (co-chair)
Former chairman of the House International Relations Committee Lee Hamilton (D) (co-chair)
Lawrence S. Eagleburger, former U.S. Secretary of State ;
Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., Senior Managing Director, Lazard, Freres & Co. LLC;
Edwin Meese, III, former U.S. Attorney General;
Sandra Day O’Connor, former U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice;
Leon E. Panetta, former White House Chief of Staff;
William J. Perry, former U.S. Secretary of Defense;
Charles S. Robb, former U.S. Senator;
Alan K. Simpson, former U.S. Senator.

The Iraq Study Group issued its report on December 6, 2006.
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