ISG: ‘Subject to Unexpected Developments’
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James Joyner | Wednesday, December 6, 2006 |
Both Ivo Daalder, Matt Yglesias, and Steve Benen observe that the qualifier “subject to unexpected developments in the security situation on the ground… (xvi)” is a rather gaping loophole in the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group.
So it is. But it also makes the report’s recommendations immune to falsification, which is the chief goal of any of these reports. If you’re going to assemble a group of distinguished people to issue definitive pronouncements on something that most of them know nothing about, you can’t very well expect them to put their reputations on the line. Otherwise, how will they get invited to join the next blue ribbon commission?
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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The ISG also says that all 79 recommendations should be implemented. That's pretty unlikely. If "only 77" are implemented and they fail, the ISG will blame insufficient implementation...
I got a question:
The US has saved Europe in two world wars and protected us in the Cold War. Is it now Europe's turn to rescue America in Iraq? Okay, the situation in Iraq is not an existential threat to America, but still...
The ISG report recommends a support group for Iraq that should include the European Union and could even include anti-war Germany.
Do you expect European help in Iraq?
I am skeptical. Germany's Federal President, however, has called for helping the United States in Iraq.
I have blogged about the ISG recommendations involving the EU. What do you think?
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