I made it about halfway through the report and tossed it aside. I am embarrassed for the people responsible for putting such a piece of garbage together. It reads like something Dennis Kucinich would write - get a support group together of Iraq's neighbors blah blah blah. I truly have to wonder if the ISG members have ANY inkling of the threat of islamofascism against us. It is essentially a pascifist's wet dream.
One thing that really stuck out while reading the report was the group's perception of Iran. All of their recommendations operate from one core belief. That belief is so misguided and so obviously off the mark that I am still shaking my head. The group believes that Iran wants a stable Iraq.
Here's just a few of the statements about Iran from the report:
"Given the ability of Iran and Syria to influence events within Iraq and their interest in avoiding chaos in Iraq, the United States should try to engage them constructively." (Executive Summary Page XV)
"No country in the region wants a chaotic Iraq." (page 27)
"Despite the well-known differences between many of these countries (Iraq's neighbors), they all share an interest in avoiding the horrible consequences that would flow from a chaotic Iraq, particularly a humanitarian catastrophe and regional destabilization." (pg 43)
"It is clear to the Iraq Study Group members that all of Iraq's neighbors are anxious about the situation in Iraq. They favor a unified Iraq that is strong enough to maintain its territorial integrity but not so powerful to threaten its neighbors." (pg 47)
Anyone that follows world events knows that Iran would like nothing else than a complete collapse of Iraq. This would enable Iran to move across the border and turn Iraq into another Lebanon with jihadists ruling the region. Israel would be caught in the crosshairs and the USA would be nothing more than a paper tiger. Add in the Iranian nuclear threat and the large amount of oil underneath the sand in Iraq and you are talking major leverage on the world stage.
Don't believe me - read Andrew McCarthey's piece over at National Review - "Negotiate with Iran?". It lays all the facts on the table - facts that the ISG should have known. Facts that came to light from the 9/11 Commission report involving Iran and bin Laden and Lee Hamilton should have been aware of. For instance...
Regarding 9/11 itself, suggestions at this point of an Iranian/Hezbollah role are sketchy but highly intriguing, while indications of Iran’s purposeful facilitation of al Qaeda are strong. As the 9/11 Commission summed up the state of play (at pp. 240-41):
[T]here is strong evidence that Iran facilitated the transit of al Qaeda members into and out of Afghanistan before 9/11, and that some of these were future 9/11 hijackers. There also is circumstantial evidence that senior Hezbollah operatives were closely tracking the travel of some of these future muscle hijackers into Iran in November 2000.
Not to mention the Zarqawi connection...
"Among the many operatives still harbored in Iran — under what the mullahs laughably call “house arrest” — are Saif al-Adel and bin Laden’s own son, Saad."
"Meanwhile, Adel and Saad bin Laden have thrived in the safety of their Iranian redoubt. Using the Saudi cells Adel had been instrumental in building, they orchestrated the May 12, 2003 suicide bombings of three Riyadh housing complexes, a direct challenge to the House of Saud so reviled by bin Laden. Perhaps more significantly, Adel had a house guest in 2002: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi."
Save your money - don't buy the ISG report. It's not worth the paper it's written on. Instead pick up a copy of Robert Spencer's "Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam". THAT's one book that each and every American should be forced to read. If you still want to break bread with Iran and Syria after reading it, you are divorced from reality.
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