Weekly Update (9/7/07)

Commission Report from Iraq Shows Limited Gains
This week, an independent commission created by Congress reported on the state of the Iraqi army and police force, predicting that it will take at least 12 to 18 months before the Iraqi units can take charge of their country's security. The commission found that the Iraqi army is improving but still suffering from “limited operational effectiveness,” while the Iraqi police force has been even less successful.

In response to the report, a Pentagon spokesman said that the administration remains committed “to stay as long as it takes to get the Iraqi army back on its feet.” Meanwhile, Democrats continue to stand up for our troops in harm's way. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) said, “Our military has done everything we have asked them to do, but we cannot expect them to stay in Iraq indefinitely to train security forces that are loyal to sectarian militias rather than the Iraqi government.”

These findings were released just before the report from General David Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the ambassador to Iraq, is scheduled to be released next week. Congress hoped that by creating this commission an independent and objective report on Iraq could be obtained.

Programs to Rebuild Iraq from the Provincial Level Failing
In other news from Iraq, Congress heard this week that the program to rebuild Iraq from the provincial level is suffering. The program has had three directors in the past four months, and many other program employees have been leaving Iraq as well. The failures have been blamed on the system in which the program operates, and not the people who work on the provincial restructuring teams. These teams are civilian-dominated, but must coordinate with the military to provide security – this coordination has been widely nonexistent. This has left the teams unable to travel to many of the areas they are assigned, making the teams largely ineffective. Others involved in the program argued that the attempts to work from the provincial level came too late to have any real value.

This Week's Poll
As Congress returns from its summer recess, members should take a look at the latest Gallup poll exploring the publics' thoughts on their work. With Congressional approval at very low levels – 18% last month – the poll asked those who disapprove the open ended question: What are some of the reasons why you disapprove of the job Congress is doing? In all, 67% of those who disapprove cited some form of Congressional inaction (not doing/passing anything, not making progress in ending the war in Iraq, not paying enough attention to the needs of the people, and not standing up to the president enough were common responses). Also, 9% wrote that Democrats were not doing what they were elected to do. Hopefully Democrats can take these results as a lesson that Americans want action and results during their coming session.