Iraq: Three Years Later

Iraq: Three Years Later

March 20, 2006

Today marks the three-year anniversary of the Iraqi invasion. Three years ago the President promised a quick and decisive victory in Iraq, but the conflict has proven to be anything but that. To commemorate the anniversary, yesterday the President proclaimed that the Iraq war is laying a “a foundation of peace” and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace went as far to say that “everything you look at” in Iraq is “going very, very well.” Despite the rosy rhetoric, Iraq is closer to civil war than ever (even former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi says Iraq is in a civil war). Brave American troops are entrenched in a conflict with no timeline for withdrawal, while America’s moral standing throughout the world has been significantly weakened.

• The Bush administration claims political progress, when in fact Iraqi politicians are deadlocked. The increased number of Iraqis turning out for the December 2005 parliamentary elections brought an escalation of sectarian divisions. The administration claims that the political process is making progress, however, the Iraqi parliament has convened only one time since December with no business being conducted.
  
  
• The Bush administration has cut and run on reconstruction of Iraq. In no other area has the Bush administration failed the Iraqi people more than economic reconstruction. Oil production, household fuel availability and electricity production have all dropped from their February 2004 levels, and unemployment is at a staggering 32 percent. With no reconstruction plan in place, it is hard to imagine security improvements within a nation lacking basic utilities.
  
  
• The Bush administration has yet to put forth a plan to win the peace in Iraq. The administration refuses to admit that it has made any mistakes in Iraq and hasn’t explained to the American people how they plan to win the peace and bring American troops home. Eighty-seven percent of Iraqis favor a concrete timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal and American Progress’ Brian Katulis notes that, “Keeping U.S. troops indefinitely in Iraq will do nothing to calm growing tensions between Iraq’s Sunnis and Shiites.” In a new report, American Progress grades the administration’s progress in Iraq. American Progress also has a plan to move forward called Strategic Redeployment.