Election Central | Talking Points Memo | Advance Copy: GAO Report Paints Dire Picture Of Situation In Iraq

Advance Copy: GAO Report Paints Dire Picture Of Situation In Iraq

By Greg Sargent - September 4, 2007, 1:21PM

Okay, here you go -- we've just obtained a copy of the hotly-anticipated Government Accountability Office report painting an extremely dire picture of the political situation in Iraq.

The report is meant to be released today to the press at 2 P.M., but you can read excerpts of it right now. We've just posted the report's summary of its conclusions, including a chart indicating the report's findings, in our TPM Document Collection. You can read it right here.

The report found that the Iraqi government has fully met only three of 18 benchmarks for political progress set for it, has only partially met four others, and failed to meet 11 -- an extremely grim picture of the situation there. The report is significant because it was produced by the nonpartisan GAO and provides a considerably more pessimistic view of the situation in Iraq than General Petraeus and the White House are expected to provide next week.

The Washington Post reported on the findings contained in a draft of the GAO report last week but didn't post a copy. What you're now reading is the final copy, and it came to slightly different conclusions than the draft reviewed by the Post.

In a measure of the report's potential political impact, the report is so pessimistic about the situation in Iraq that the Pentagon reportedly pushed to have it revised when word of its conclusions leaked in The Post.

The final report finds that the Iraqi government has met one of eight legislative benchmarks and two of nine security benchmarks. A chart from the report laying out what has been met and what hasn't is right here.

Read the report's summary here. More soon.

Update: The full report is here.

Comments (21)

gchaucer2 wrote on September 4, 2007 1:43 PM:

Are the "slightly different conclusions" in the final draft significant or inconsequential?

lunylegume wrote on September 4, 2007 1:49 PM:

As in slightly dead or inconsequentially lifeless ?

Greg wrote on September 4, 2007 1:56 PM:

stand by for a post on that question

Ashley wrote on September 4, 2007 1:59 PM:

So is the administration going to do the same thing in Iraq as they do to elementary schools that don't meet their benchmarks - pull funding, shut the place down, invite students (or in this case soldiers) to go somewhere else, and fire the failing staff? Just curious.

gchaucer2 wrote on September 4, 2007 2:12 PM:

Thanks, Greg.

RandyR wrote on September 4, 2007 3:19 PM:

It's interesting that the White House talks about implemeinting the Iraqi Hydrocarbon Law as a benchmark and it's not. The HydroCarbon Law only says that the wealth should be distributed but it contains no plan for distribution. The Hydrocarbon Law is all about US and Britian controling and getting Iraq's oil. Iraq has about 12 trillion dollars in oil but the price to steal it seems mighty high.

Taniel wrote on September 4, 2007 4:09 PM:

August has been marked by intense activist agitation over the war. Pro and anti-war groups have been running ads to influence key representatives and senators, and some - mostly moderate Republicans - are feeling the heat. Senator Reid has been very good at not letting bipartisan but very weak resolutions on the war get to a vote, which has not allowed Republicans to get cover: They have not been able to vote for what they would like to vote for, namely a resolution that would put only minimal pressure on the White House but would allow them to claim they have opposed war policy. The Politico quotes Rep. Davis of Virginia as saying that, “I never get to vote on anything that supports my views" -- what he calls his "nuanced positions."

Now that Bush's own September benchmark has arrived and there is little political and military progress in Iraq, will moderate Republicans finally cross over and vote for Democratic resolutions? We'll see in the next few weeks, but early rumblings are making it look unlikely.

Read full analysis on Campaign Diaries.

cmo3p wrote on September 4, 2007 4:27 PM:

This is terrible - and shame on me for even thinking it - but, what if we didn't throw the president and his party goons in that briar patch? What if Congress said "wonderful, sounds like you're saying everything's peachy so keep up the good work and we'll check back with you later"?

Reckless yes, and probably immoral, but am I the only one who has fantasies about securing this albatross firmly around the necks of these liars?

Stu Winnie wrote on September 11, 2007 10:00 PM:

The benchmarks haven't been met. If our 3rd grade students only met 3 out of a dozen or so benchmarks, we'd all agree to call the plan an overwhelming failure, especially with such open-ended, easily cooked and spinned benchmarks. As bad as things were under Saddam Husein, we can't even bring conditions up to his level of civil success. He was able to provide water and electricity even under UN sanctions better than we seem to be. Rather than let things get worse and worse, let's admit faikure and bring the troops home or redeploy where we can actually fight terror and build democracy, rather than playing into the hands of the terrorists. Go after Bin Laden, even if Bush, after claiming that we'd get him, now says he isn't all that concerned about him. He master-minded 9-11, not the Iraqi people. Most Iraqis want us out. We got rid of Saddam Husein, yet the Iraqis want us to go home. If we don't leave, we truly are the aggressors. Worse than the Japanese' unprovoced attack on Pearl harbor, our unprovoked attack on Iraq is shameless. At least they only targeted the military. I don't want our troops to fail, as many republkican spin doctors lies go, I simply don't want us to fail our troops. Bring 'em home.

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Advance Copy: GAO Report Paints Dire Picture Of Situation In Iraq

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