Officials: Iraq unlikely to meet benchmarks
The Iraqi government is unlikely to meet any of the political and security goals President Bush set for it in January when he announced a major shift in US policy, according to senior administration officials closely involved in the matter.
As they prepare an interim report due by July 15, officials are marshaling alternative evidence of progress to persuade Congress to continue supporting the war.
In a preview of the assessment it must deliver to Congress in September, the administration will report that Sunni tribal leaders in Anbar Province are turning against the group Al Qaeda in Iraq in growing numbers; that sectarian killings were down in June; and that Iraqi political leaders managed last month to agree on a unified response to the bombing of a major religious shrine, officials said.
Those achievements are markedly different from the benchmarks Bush set when he announced his decision to send tens of thousands of additional troops to Iraq, and anything short of progress on the original benchmarks is unlikely to appease the growing ranks of disaffected Republican lawmakers who are urging Bush to develop a new strategy.
Although Republicans held the line this year against Democratic efforts to set a timeline for withdrawing troops, several influential GOP senators have broken with Bush in recent days, charging that his plan is failing and calling for troop redeployments starting as early as the spring.
Republican dissenters now include Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, the former chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee; Senator John W. Warner of Virginia, the former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee; Senator George V. Voinovich of Ohio; Senator Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico; Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee; and Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire.
Stumble it!