September 14, 2007

WH: Iraq Meeting Half Its Benchmarks Of Progress

Last night, President Bush told the American people that the surge is working and that, as a result, "Iraq's national leaders are getting some things done." The White House followed up that assessment with a report [PDF] today showing that Iraqi leaders have made "satisfactory progress" toward achieving nine out of 18 benchmarks of progress established by Congress -- that's one more benchmark than they had met as of July [PDF], according to the White House.

Despite Bush's words of praise for Iraq's security forces and political leaders in his address last night, the report indicates their work is, at best, only halfway done. "The government has not met its own legislative benchmarks," Bush acknowledged last night, "and in my meetings with Iraqi leaders, I have made it clear that they must."

With each new status report, the picture of Iraqi progress becomes hazier and hazier. Just last week, the Government Accountability Office released its own report [PDF] stating that three out of 18 benchmarks had been met, and four benchmarks had been partially met.

As for the specific measures of progress Bush cited in his speech last night, the Washington Post's fact checker contests some of the details.

And for its cover story this week, National Journal examines several shifting strategies in Iraq, from the perspective of Congress, Sunni leaders and our British allies (subscription).

Posted at 3:12 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Iraq, President Bush
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