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Last week marked the first anniversary of the President’s announcement of a substantial increase in the number of American troops in Iraq, commonly called the surge, and the results one year later are mixed. America's armed forces did their job superbly and deserve an “A”-plus for their achievements but the Iraqi government has failed miserably to live up to their responsibilities… that’s “Fail” with a capital "F".
The influx of some 30,000 U.S. troops resulted in securing the capital of Baghdad and western Anbar province and turning local leaders against al-Qaida operatives who began cooperating with coalition forces. The plan, executed by General David Petraeus, is a resounding achievement. It came at a high price; 2007 was the most lethal year yet for U.S. troops in Iraq.
At the time of the announcement, I opposed the surge because I didn't think it was wise to put our troops at the crossroads of a vicious civil war and the Iraqi government was not being held accountable for their failure to coalesce and achieve political reconciliation.
UNMET BENCHMARKS
Our forces got their job done. They met their mission to quell much of the violence in order to give the Iraqi government time to make progress toward political reconciliation and establish a functioning government. The Iraqi government today is still mired in political dysfunction with the goals outlined by the president and the benchmarks outlined by Congress still not achieved. They have squandered the opportunity presented to them by the U.S. military. In fact, the Government Accountability Office said that of the eight political benchmarks the Iraqi government had only met one and partially met another. One of eight is not a passing grade.
When the President announced the surge a year ago this was his stated objective: "To establish its authority, the Iraqi government plans to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November. To give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy, Iraq will pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis. To show that it is committed to delivering a better life, the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion of its own money on reconstruction and infrastructure projects that will create new jobs. To empower local leaders, Iraqis plan to hold provincial elections later this year. And to allow more Iraqis to re-enter their nation's political life, the government will reform de-Baathification laws, and establish a fair process for considering amendments to Iraq's constitution."
The President also warned the Iraqis that, "America will hold the government to the benchmarks." One year later, the Iraqis have completed not a single objective the president outlined. Using the president’s own words as the definition of success, it is difficult to see where success has been achieved.
Most Americans are aware that the Iraqis have failed to assume security responsibilities, quell sectarian violence, or establish a truly functioning government. They see the cycle of Iraqi dependence on the United States continue. They see the costs of this war continue to mount. They want a change in our policy on Iraq.
MISSION TRANSITION
Speaking as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel and after having visited Iraq four times, including twice last year when I told Iraqi leaders that they must do more, the time has come to transition the mission of our troops. Their job should be to focus on America's national security objectives in Iraq which are fighting terrorists, maintaining Iraq’s border integrity, protecting American assets and personnel and training Iraqi soldiers.
BIPARTISAN SOLUTION
I do not support immediate withdrawal of American troops or setting hard dates to withdraw. I support holding the Iraqis accountable for meeting their own goals on political reconciliation and progress. Report after report issued in recent months show that they are incapable or unwilling to achieve those goals. As a result of their failures, I believe its time to transition the mission. I'm working to find a bipartisan way forward that Democrats and Republicans can live with and the White House can support.
The American commitment is not open ended and at some point Iraq needs to assume more responsibility for their government, their security, and their future. Our brave men and women in uniform cannot continue to stand up for a government that is not willing to stand up for itself.
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