The United States faces a "grave and deteriorating" situation after about four years of war in Iraq, a high-level commission warned on Wednesday, urging President Bush to launch a diplomatic drive to stabilize the country and allow withdrawal of most combat troops by early 2008.
"There is no path that can guarantee success, but the prospects can be improved," the commission said. The commission recommended the United States reduce "political, military or economic support" for Iraq if the government in Baghdad cannot make substantial progress toward providing for its own security, The Associated Press reported.
President Bush received the report in an early morning meeting at the White House with commission members. He vowed to treat each proposal seriously and act in a "timely fashion." "This report gives a very tough assessment of the situation in Iraq. It is a report that brings some really very interesting proposals, and we will take every proposal seriously and we will act in a timely fashion."
The report painted a bleak picture of Iraq nearly four years after U.S. forces ousted Saddam Hussein. It urged Bush to embrace steps he has thus far rejected, including a call to involve Syria and Iran in negotiations over Iraq's future.
It warned that if the situation continues to deteriorate, there is a risk of a "slide toward chaos (that) could trigger the collapse of Iraq's government and a humanitarian catastrophe."
"Neighboring countries could intervene. ... The global standing of the United States could be diminished. Americans could become more polarized," commissioners said.
With diplomacy under way, the report said, the U.S. should boost the number of combat and other troops that are embedded with and supporting Iraqi Army units. "As these actions proceed, U.S. combat forces could begin to move out of Iraq. ... By the first quarter of 2008, subject to unexpected developments in the security situation on the ground, all combat brigades not necessary for force protection could be out of Iraq."
The report makes 79 separate recommendations on Iraq policy, said one official familiar with the work.
"The situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating," the report warned. "Violence is increasing in scope and lethality. It is fed by a Sunni Arab insurgency, Shiite militias, death squads, al-Qaeda and widespread criminality. Sectarian conflict is the principal challenge to stability."
