A long-brewed report by a US bipartisan commission on Iraq war,
which was made public on Wednesday, has drawn people's great
attention. But will it definitely play any effective role in
curbing the deteriorating situation in the war-torn country? That
is another pair of shoes.?????
Withdrawal, diplomacy urged
"The situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating," the
commission's co-chairman and former Secretary of State James A.
Baker told a news briefing soon after the report was delivered to
President George W. Bush at the White House.
While stressing "violence is increasing in scope and lethality,"
the high-level Iraq Study Group put forward in its 160-page
document 79 recommendations for a policy shift on Iraq.
Of all the recommendations, two suggestions are believed to be
the most challenging to Bush and his administration. One is to
shift US military combat role by 2008, the other is to launch
diplomatic initiatives.
The bipartisan panel suggested that the United States should
move most of its troops out of combat roles in Iraq by early 2008,
and that there needs to be a renewed and sustained commitment by
Washington to a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace on all fronts:
Lebanon, Syria, and a two-state solution for Israel and
Palestine.
As one of concrete efforts for the latter, the commission called
for direct talks with Iran and Syria, both rivals to the United
States, to stabilize their neighboring Iraq.?
???
Key refusals
"If they are effectively implemented, and if the Iraqi
government moves forward with national reconciliation, Iraqis will
have an opportunity for a better future, terrorism will be dealt a
blow, stability will be enhanced in an important part of the world,
and American's credibility, interests and values will be
protected," the commission said in its report.
However, to people's no surprise, President Bush has not by far
given in either in his insistence on the deployment of US troops in
Iraq or resistance to direct talks with Iran.
Hours after the panel's report was made public, the White House
said that it has ruled out one-to-one talks with Iran about Iraq
"unless Iran verifiably suspends its enrichment and reprocessing
activities."
"The president believes that Iran has to change its behavior,"
White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters.
Looking back on what he said about Iraq, Bush has never shaken
his resolve to realize what he called democracy in Iraq either. He
said days ago that he would not be persuaded by any calls to
withdraw American troops before the country is stabilized.
"There's one thing I'm not going to do, I'm not going to pull
our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete," he
said in Riga, Latvia when he was attending the NATO summit last
week.??
??
Mideast peace push
Although Bush rebuffed key recommendations from the Iraq Study
Group, he remains positive to the report, calling it "worthy of
serious study," and stressing "We need a new approach" to achieve
the objective.
The visit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday has
apparently offered Bush a chance to confirm the need to revive the
stalled Middle East peace process while dealing with Iraq
issues.?????
Speaking to reporters after meeting with Blair at the White
House, Bush acknowledged the need for "concerted efforts" to solve
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"Prime Minister Blair informed me that he will be heading to the
Middle East soon to talk to both the Israelis and the
Palestinians," Bush said. "And I support that mission."
However, analysts have noticed that the US top leader has not
gone as far as accepting the direct linkage between the
deteriorating Iraqi sectarian war and the half-century-old
Israeli-Palestinian conflicts.
The US State Department announced Thursday that Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice, who returned from Jordan, Israel and the
Palestinian territories last week, will be back to the Middle East
early in the new year.
Is Rice's scheduled visit to the Mideast has anything to do with
the bipartisan panel's recommendation of an intense US-led peace
effort? People have to wait and see.
(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2006)
