On the up side, this is one of the few times that the Bush administration has set down goals to be met in Iraq. The goals are pushed back from June to December, but at least it gives Americans some standard against which to measure progress.
Iraqis’ Progress Lags Behind Pace Set by Bush Plan
In interviews this week, administration officials said that the military buildup intended to stabilize Baghdad and create the conditions for achieving the objectives would not be fully in place until June and that all of the objectives would not be fulfilled until the year’s end.
Four of the significant objectives are final approval of an oil law regulating distribution of oil revenues and foreign investment in the oil industry; reversal of the de-Baathification laws that are widely blamed for alienating Sunnis by driving them out of government ministries; the holding of local elections; and reform of Iraq's Constitution.
On the down side, these are all goals to be met by the Iraqis. They are all goals that could have been met by the Americans before declaring Iraq a sovereign nation. And 2 of them (de-de-Baathification and reform of the Constitution) are reversals our original policies.
h/t TMV
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