The Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq
A Critique
By Anthony H. Cordesman
Sep 6, 2007
The attached analysis of the
report of the Independent Commission on
Iraqi Security Forces addresses the strengths and weakness of the report in
detail, and places its findings in the broader political and strategic context
of the pressures and tensions shaping events in Iraq.
Many key aspects of the report of
the Independent Commission on Iraqi Security Forces, and its findings, track
closely with my own experience in visiting Iraq, and in meeting independently
with US and Iraqi officers, officials and experts. There are few areas where
the report raises issues or problems in ISF development that I have not seen
independently confirmed by my own visits to Iraq,
discussions with Iraqi and US
officers working on these issues, and other reports.
I also believe the Commission
report is accurate in saying that ISF development can succeed in spite of these
problems if the US is patient, willing to put in years of further effort, and
realistic in its goals and efforts.
At the same time, accurate and
useful as many of the Commission's findings are, the report fails to properly
link its recommendations and analysis to problems created by the level of civil
conflict in Iraq. It also fails to properly address the importance
of political accommodation as a precondition for the success of US effort.
There also are a range of other
problems and issues that it does not fully address, and that the Congress and
American people must address in deciding on the future of US intervention in Iraq.
Independent Commission on Iraqi Security
Forces
James L. Jones
Jr. was the chairman for the Independent
Commission on Iraqi Security Forces, the national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration, the commander,
U.S. European Command for U.S.
Department of Defense, a trustee at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (think tank), and is
a director at the Atlantic Council of
the United States
(think tank).
Note: Henry A. Kissinger is a trustee at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies (think tank), a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank).
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.
Chuck
Hagel was the chairman for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and
is the secretary at the U.S. Department
of Defense for the Barack Obama
administration.
William
J. Perry is an honorary director at the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank), the secretary at the U.S.
Department of Defense, and a
member of the Iraq Study Group.
James A. Baker III
is an honorary director at the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank), and was a co-chair at the Iraq Study Group.
Leon
E. Panetta was a member of the Iraq
Study Group, and the secretary for the U.S.
Department of Defense for the Barack
Obama administration.
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