While the report is a bad thing and the Iraqi Gov't needs a major overhaul for the major overhaul it already had when Saddam was removed, it's interesting to see how you claim not to be Democrat yet you do exactly what they do, quote from places like the Washington Post and expect nothing less than perfection. God forbid anyone talks about the 5, which is not 3 it's 5, benchmarks that were reached and how far they got in the other 13. I mean, for all we know, since the benchmarks don't allow for progress reports on individual benchmarks, only a reached/failed system, they could have been very close to reaching some of the 13 failed ones. But I guess we will never know, right Col. Because that's how you and the Democrats want it.

(See how I too can agree a little but still put my point across just like you do?)

Reply By: CharlesCS1 Posted: Thursday, August 30, 2007
“While the report is a bad thing and the Iraqi Government needs a major overhaul for the major overhaul it already had when Saddam was removed, it's interesting to see how you claim not to be Democrat yet you do exactly what they do, quote from places like the Washington Post and expect nothing less than perfection.”


I have no love for the Washington Post or for that matter any other newspaper. I had nothing to do with who got the draft copy of the GAO Report. WHO got the report is NOT the issue. What is FOX News had been given a copy? The issue is that this report clearly shows that neither the overall military or non military issues are being resolved. When I say some aspects of this report will be at ODDS with the mid September report it is because the statements from Gen. Petraeus are about progress in specific areas where we have applied more military power. Our Troops have done their job and done it well. The GAO Report acknowledges what General Petraeus reports is correct. However, that is like looking at the leaves on the tree. The GAO Report also looks beyond specific areas and considers the overall security situation and the progress on solving the military and political issues that are a MUST to arrive at a long tern end to the violence. That analysis shows that overall neither the violence nor the resolution of the political issues has shown progress. The GAO Report also says it isn't likely that the Iraqi military or the civilian government will be unable to resolve these issues the future.

That means overall, the Bush policy for the past 4 1/2 years, including the past six months has not and in not likely to achieve the resolution of the unrest in Iraq. There is no one on this Blog Site, including myself, that has the knowledge or expertise to claim the conclusions in the GAO Report are not correct. In fact Bush does not have the first hand knowledge or expertise to refute this report. Thus even though we may hear in September about some military progress, the overall success of controlling the violence and resolving the political issues is not taking place and this report says just that!

Here is more from the AP:

Auditors Say Iraq Goals Not Being Met
By MATTHEW LEE (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
August 30, 2007 6:55 AM EDT
WASHINGTON - The Iraqi government has failed to meet the vast majority of political and military goals laid out by lawmakers to assess President Bush's Iraq war strategy, congressional auditors have determined.

The Associated Press has learned the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, will report that at least 13 of the 18 benchmarks to measure the surge of U.S. troops to Iraq are unfulfilled ahead of a Sept. 15 deadline. That's when Bush is to give a detailed accounting of the situation eight months after he announced the policy, according to three officials familiar with the matter.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the report has not been made public, also said the administration is preparing a case to play down the findings, arguing that Congress ordered the GAO to use unfair, "all or nothing" standards when compiling the document.

The GAO is to give a classified briefing about its findings to lawmakers on Thursday. It is not yet clear when its unclassified report will be released but it is due Sept. 1 amid a series of assessments called for in January legislation that authorized Bush's plan to send 30,000 more troops to Iraq, where there is now a total of more than 160,000 troops.

i think you missed a news report.


al sadr has suspended all military activite that his militia have been doing. he has the largest militia in iraq. yes it is only for six months but the fact is he has called for a stop in all attacks.

Reply By: danielost Posted: Thursday, August 30, 2007
“i think you missed a news report.


al sadr has suspended all military activite that his militia have been doing. he has the largest militia in iraq. yes it is only for six months but the fact is he has called for a stop in all attacks.”


That has NOTHING to do with the GAO Report!

Even if they stop their attacks now, does that mean when we leave Iraq that the attacks will not resume? If you believe that you are truly in another world!!!!!

But you see Col, it doesn't talk about progress, it talks about reached and fail benchmarks. There are no details as to what was the progress, it simply says they failed. This is what I mean:

Say Congress felt that of 5 pretend benchmark they need to get 90% to be considered reached, anything below 90% would be considered a failure. Now imagine this being the results, so far, of the GAO on these 5 pretend benchmarks:

#1 - 96%
#2 - 87%
#3 - 55%
#4 - 91%
#5 - 82%

Based on what Congress requested in this example, 3 out of 5 benchmarks failed. But did they really? Would you consider 87% and 82% a failure when there was only a 3 to 8% difference but was still more than 75% overall?

Now apply this same idea to the real GAO report. We won't know the real progress of these benchmarks, we will only know if they failed or were reached. That's like saying you got a B in math so you failed even though a B is good and you worked so hard but it's not an A.

The objective is to end the violence and establish stability in Iraq. The benchmarks are just steps to achieve that goal. The overriding issue is that the overall violence is not winding down, the political issues are not being resolved and the GAO report says they doubt that the Iraqi Military or Government will be able to achieve that goal! After 4 1/2 years of fighting and spending the amount of lives, injuries and dollars to be at the point the GAO Report says we are at in this war shows we have failed and they do not expect the situation will be changed in the future. That says we need a NEW PLAN! It is time to turn Iraq over to Iraq and if that means more violence for a time that will be their choice. They have an Army and police force as well as an elected government. The time has come for the Iraqis to take charge and if they do not then they will have to pay the price!

And this is the purpose of leaking the GAO report to make the success look small. Good JOB! AQ must love you and the Post.


Even Al Sadar is backing down but we are failing in your eyes. Good one, very objective of you!

However much the supporters of the Iraq War castigate Col Gene for his frustration at things going wrong around every corner, let us not forget that the tribal/feudal divisions within the country are so great (and exascerbated by poor leadership within the present Iraqi Government), that no amount of surge, "Bushspeak" or "pseudo-bullshit positive brainwash" cannot, can never, calm that country. It is also easy to say that if "you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen" --problem is the pots and pans are boiling over and the chef has a contract so he cant bail out.

I'm an outsider but I think the US and its allies have f*****d up big time and supporting Bush at this time is probably natural. He needs a lot of help that man because it's too late to get out now.

Reply By: Paladin77 Posted: Thursday, August 30, 2007
Thus even though we may hear in September about some military progress, the overall success of controlling the violence and resolving the political issues is not taking place and this report says just that!


“And this is the purpose of leaking the GAO report to make the success look small. Good JOB! AQ must love you and the Post.” I BET Bush hates both the GAO and the Post!!!


The GAO report is their assessment of the situation in Iraq. The purpose in giving a copy to the Post was to stop Bush and company from watering it down or keeping the parts that do not support the BS we have been getting from the White House to the public!

I'm an outsider but I think the US and its allies have f*****d up big time and supporting Bush at this time is probably natural.

Bush has been supported for years with no resolution. It is time to cut the cord. This is what we need to do:

It is time to turn Iraq over to Iraq and if that means more violence for a time that will be their choice. They have an Army and police force as well as an elected government. The time has come for the Iraqis to take charge and if they do not then they will have to pay the price!

of course this isn't in the report. this took place after said report was written.

You may be right, but you would have to be a real psychic to prove this. Everything is 50/50 in life and we would rather believe we can succeed rather than give up and walk away.

The real sad part is how the rest of the world sits by and allows the death of the innocent Iraqi civilians just to see the US drown in it's own mess. Had the rest of the world jumped in by now and put their foot down, Iraq would be much less of a disaster. But God forbid any of them (including many allies) lost a chance of watching the mighty USA crumble under the pressure of it's own mistakes.

“The real sad part is how the rest of the world sits by and allows the death of the innocent Iraqi civilians just to see the US drown in its own mess. Had the rest of the world jumped in by now and put their foot down, Iraq would be much less of a disaster. But God forbid any of them (including many allies) lost a chance of watching the mighty USA crumble under the pressure of its own mistakes.”

I agree. The reason the world is not supporting us is they did not agree with the decision for us to invade Iraq and they do not trust or want to deal with Bush. He has turned off many of our traditional allies and the few that did help, with the exception of England, did so in a half hearted way. Most people in the world did not support their governments to help in Iraq and we are in the No WIN situation because of Bush and the choices he made.

We are also in a civil war and at the same time fighting foreign terrorists in Iraq because Bush failed to listen to the military leaders as to the manpower needed to secure Iraq after Saddam fell. Had Bush provided the 500,000 troops, there would be no sectarian fighting nor would foreign terrorists have a foot hold in Iraq. From every aspect from the initial decision to invade Iraq to the tactics of disbanding the Iraqi Army, police and government and the lack of U.S. manpower, the choices Bush made have created the disaster we see today in Iraq. Bush is responsible for most of the dead and injured American Troops because of those decisions!!!!!

is that an obsolutely true.