Why a 2006 Iraq report merits a fresh read

“The situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating. . . . Sectarian conflict is the principal challenge to stability.” That’s from the beginning of “The Iraq Study Group Report” from 2006. Nine years later, it’s haunting to revisit the bipartisan commission review chaired by former secretary of state James Baker and former representative Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.). Their grim assessment still holds, and now you have to add Syria, Libya and Yemen as states where “the level of violence is high and growing” and “pessimism is pervasive.” Read full article >>