It's high time some much needed adult advice is brought to the White House. Maybe reality will enter the vocabulary of our President, whose pronouncements of late on Iraq have become tiresome and mechanically repetitive.
Good luck to our President and to us all.

The troops should be gradually shifted to patrol Iraq's border, keeping foreign fighters and arms out of Iraq. This way US troops can be close enough to assist security, but far enough away to remove the in-your-face perception that irks Iraqis.

I find it interesting that this administration goes to unprovoked war with a soverign country (Iraq), rips it apart, reduces the operational infrastructure to shambles, & stirs up a hornets nest in the MidEast, now tells the new leaders of Iraq that unless they get control of their country, we're going to leave them high and dry.
How's that for shifting the blame...

Nothing will work unless Papa Bush can take over the White House with his own people and direct a "change in course."

This also means replacing Condi Rice and her "new democratic" Middle East.

the U.S. needs to quit trying to be a police state of the world and worry about their own people at home. Remember the old saying about sweeping around your own door first. We are apparently forcing democracy where democracy isn't wanted. Be careful in the Middle East - you are sitting on a powder keg! The U.S. can't settle the Israeli-Arab conflict. Our son is in Iraq and I want him home to live a full and healthy life and not get blown apart. As an honest and true American serving his country doesn't he deserve that?

Since Bush has already stated that he will stay in Iraq as long as Maliki wants him there, why would he be pleased that the panel recommended no open end commitments?

engage iran and syria in good faith and they might respond,for they have a lot to loose too.

So the country is tired of "partisan bickering"..... is that it? Sorry, Mr Bush, the country is tired of you and your having marched us into this swamp and your pigheaded unwillingness to have listened to voices of reality.

I think that the US's image is going to get worked over no matter what is done...

What else is new? If the Administration would have listened to Pat Buchanan at the very begining, we would not have needed this report!

I sure hope the report gave more proposal options than these few tired old assessments. This stuff is nothing new. If this is the only thing our "best and brightest" can come up with, we're screwed.

War is a bipartisan problem. America has been at War continously since Korea. We have become a modern day Sparta; our Economy is now almost fully reliant on Defense Industry-connected goods. We have outsourced everything else. Therefore, this sector of Corporate America will make sure this trend continues, if not in the Middle East, somewhere else. Since this sector controls both Congress and the White House and hence, our Interventionist Foreign Policy, our only hope is that a National Economic bankruptcy will stop this foreign adventurism for Corporate benefit.

If only Mr. Bush would listen and follow through with the exemplory suggestions made by the commission.

I'm shocked!! "The situation is grave and deteriorating" and calls for greater diplomacy. I think everyone in the world knew this except for Bush, Rice, Cheney and Rumsfeld. W didn't listen to his father about going to war, hopefully he'll listen to his father's best friend.

Since Congress appointed this group and did not want to handle this issue, they should all resign. I didn't vote for members of this Commission. We pay members of Congress to do this work. We should either do away with Congress and establish Commissions for problems, or Congress should do their job and quit the political back stabbing. This is an insult to our form of government.

Edward Hartlage
Sunset Beach, N. C.

My question is: How a territory named "Iraq" can have one government while it is irrevocable divided by sectarian groups?
By the way: Democracy is the right to choose or accept a form of government. We must NOT impose in other country the govenment of our convenience.
The military, with direct orders from the president, has only destroy Iraq, and the prestige of USA abroad,
This war began with a twisted purpose using as excuse weapons of mass destruction, replace a government, etc, and against the will of the world (ONU)
I would like to see a USA that is respected in the world, because of the judgement of its government, not feared for its willingness to destroy.
We are not welcome any more.
We are getting isolated. I want to see new friends, not
create more enemies.

The Iraq study group has adopted Congressman Jack Murtha's plan for withdrawal from Iraq except instead of withdrawing in 6 months as Murtha suggested the Iraq Study Group has added 10 months to the timetable, by calling for withdrawal in 16 months. If the administration had heeded Murtha's call a year ago, we could have saved 100 billion dollars and the lives of 1000 Amercan troops. Americans should ask, "What has been accomplished in Iraq in the year since Congressman Murtha called for a withdrawal of US troops?"

Is it possible to post/provide the full contents of the report online for us to read?

Iran is not the most dangerous Arab nation,they clearly are the smartest.Isreal told Geprge W"you can go into Baghdad,but you can not get out" Since we know more then Isreal we went in anyway,this is Vietnam times 1000.Three below average 9th graders could tell you that without the help of Iran and Syria you can not stabalize Iraq.Iran doesnt want Iraq stable,they want you out,Iran has major plans for the region,you didnt open the door for Iran,you kicked it off the hinges.You can not get me to believe the leaders of the U.S. are so ignorant and blind they did not see this coming.Iran never could have destabalized Iraq as fast and effectivly as U.S. troops did.Guess what?Saudi Arabia is next..Iran is the new dominate player in the region,get used to it

"propaganda victory and expend its base of operations"

should be "expand"

Might want to fix that.

"The country, in my judgment, is tired of pure political bickering that happens in Washington. And they understand that on this important issue of war and peace it is best for our country to work together."
Why didn't President Bush feel this way a year ago? In the past, it was always his way or no way! And he could've acted quicker on the Israeli/Lebanon conflict. Instead he decided to keep quiet and let Israel pound Lebanon and kill innocent people. We need to have good relations with the ME and the U.S. can't take it upon themselves to fix the world. It takes the U.N. to do that.Its too bad the American people have no say in what the administration does...

Study Group ?? We are losing young men and women on a daily basis and we need a study group? Get a clue in DC and the White House we are not trying to develope a product and need answers if it'll sell or not. You don't invade a country without knowing how you are going to end the conflict of have some idea. This administration is playing darts with policy. They are clueless as to the next step to take. One day we are winning the next day we are losing, but the only certain thing that we are losing is American lives and selling off our kids future to the tune of probablly 1 trillion dollars in debt.

This is a ridiculous. We know we have to increase the Iraqi army and their responsibilities, and give the country back to Iraqi control - isn't that what we've been trying to do all along? It's been a massive failure, and frankly quite patronizing towards the Iraqi people. Does the committee envision that the people of Iraq have not been trying to control their country, or that the Iraqi army is just standing by twiddling their thumbs? They can't- because there's a massive civil war going on- the same bickering that was going on before Saddam came to power; the reason the US helped put Saddam in power to begin with- he was the only one brutal enough to stop the fighting between the various factions. This is just another cope-out report so we can pull our troops and pat ourselves on the back saying we did all we could; denying responsibility for the absolute mess we made out of the lives of millions of people and the hell they will have to live in for the years to come. Look at the lessons learned from the post-communist transition in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus; Iraq is going to be much harder. Oh wait, the same leaders who screwed that up are now "fixing" Iraq.

I think that Bush's plan was to maintain status quo in Iraq until he left the White House. He is perfectly willing to allow someone else to put up the burden that he put on this country.
Bush is the worst President of modern times. But he could not have gone as far as he has, without the backing of the American majority voters. The Democrats should not be acting victorious with these past elections, for they are the culprits that allowed Bush to prevail, also.

If Presidents were purchased at a store this one should be returned and we should demand our money back. Good intentions don't cut it.

Believe immediate and with top priority an Israel-Palestine peace process implemented by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker.

Just before we attacked Iraq, we offered exile to Saddam. He refused the offer.

Now it's time to offer exile to George Bush. We could pay him a billion dollars just to go away, and save 100 times that.

Dear President Cowboy,

What a fine mess you have gotten us into! Your ego and bravado have cost thousands of young lives and injured 10's of thousands more. And for what??? To get to where we are now after spending near half a trillion dollars when it is all said and done (just through next year!!). If I were one of the parents who lost a child in your personal jihad, I would be marching in front of the White House with Cindy Sheehan. I don't see any of the Bush children ever possibly getting killed, maimed or affected by your own egotistical holy war. It's beyond a disgrace!

The Iraqi people have spoken: It's the economy, stupid. Their response to a recent poll to stop the violence was 'give 'em' a job. The Palastinian and Lebonese questions revolve around the same issue with Hamas and Hezbolla on scene with cash.

For all the committees and diatribes no one has yet to address the need to rebuild the US Military to the point where we could send 400,000 well-equipped troops to a conflict without the need for the no-bid very expensive contractors with a readiness ability to respond to other needs.

The global view of the U.S. could be diminished? Is this a joke? The view of US policy by majorities of citizens in most nations is already significantly negative, bordering on hatred. Don't misrepresent the situation for your readers. That's a disservice.
Welcome news for the president would not be to recant on his open-ended commitment to Iraq either. Get the facts straight. The president has continually told the american people that the U.S. military will stay in Iraq as long as the Iraqis need them to be there. Stop slanting the news.

The current strategy, is totally ineffective, as the world have witnessed for many years that the USA army is totally impotent to police Iraq and quell the senseless killing, abductions, hostage taking by the unorganized insurgents and broker any peace between the warring factions or even ensure a steady oil flow from the country.

The US government should put the present Shiite dominated Government on notice that the US army will be withdrawn immediately unless the Iraqi army be given the task to dismantle or combat the army of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to stop the senseless killings of the Sunni’s and their counter reactions.

If this is not done it does not make any difference whether the US forces will stay or not, only to slowly bleed to death and to bankrupt the USA. This being the case the US is given the best possible scenario to save face and withdraw the troops.

I like it alot. Let the Iraqi's fight for their country. We can support them with money, guns, etc. but let's not let our American soldiers get killed anymore. It's their country, let them settle it. We also can't do it alone. We need the neighboring Arab countries to help us with a political solution. No more unilateral US actions. We are seen as the invaders not the liberators. The current plan is not working. Let's go with this new plan.

most troops? riiiight. What exactly does "most" mean? USA currently has 140 000 troops in Iraq. Again what does the word "most" mean as applied to that figure? 100,000? 80,000? I have read reports that USA is building 14 permanent bases in Iraq. USA still has a substantial number of solders in Germany, Japan and S Korea. last time I checked, that is 60 years after the end of WWII. "Most" is yet another lie by the USA administration.
I can bet as much money as anyone is willing to ask me that the USA will still have at least 40 000 solders in Iraq 20 years from now.

This is a very long awaited report that seems to be addressing some of the key issues concerning our presence in Iraq. One thing touched on is so very true and that is this war is causing a lot of political posturing and bickering here in our otherwise peaceful United States. This IRAQ isssue has divided families and neighbors and started unwanted political wars here in our country where we have issues that need to be addressed and are being overlooked because we are babysitting a country that does not want to take diplomatic initiatives of their own to solve their own personal problems. I commend the commission and it's creators for at least looking into the future of the United States presence in Irag. Thank You!

The primary and perhaps insurmmountable obstacle to adopting the recommendation for renewed diplomacy is the need for the Bush administration to acknowledge that their "Don't talk to Iran or Syria until they capitulate to our demands" policy is naive, childish and doomed. Don't bet on them accepting responsibility.

The American people came to the very same conclusion during the last election. Did we really need a special commssion to give the Presdient the very same message?

Albert Einstein once said: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." This has been the Bush administration policy for the past three years. I highly agree with the Baker Commission Report recommendations but I would take it a step further and have "serious" dialogue and discussion with Iran and Syria. These are Iraq's neighbors and when we leave they will have to deal with the mess we leave behind. You don't make new alliances by insulting the people of that country ("Axis of Evil")...you make new alliances by sitting down and discussing and acknowledeging your diffrences but putting them aside to come together to achive a common goal.

More political nonsense. This report is all about saving face for the U.S., not about saving Iraq. "Mission Accomplished" was just another political sideshow and "Mission Unaccomplished" is heading in the same direction.

It seems to me that the hard learned lessons of the Vietnam conflict did not last long in the minds of our political entities. Nor did the lessons learned in Desert Storm. A moment to reflect...the Vietnam conflict was run by our "politicians" and was interminable in it's length and the deaths of US troops. Desert Storm was run by our Generals and was one of rthe most successful oerations in military history...The war in Iraq is being run by our politicians...is there a parallel here ? We pay our Generals to wage wars...and when we leave them alone to do it...they are amazingly successful. Give them a goal and leave them alone to acomplish it. Had we done that in the first place I would submit that we would be done with Iraq and the unnecessary loss of life.

I pray to God that our President does not acknowledge the report with "deaf" ears as he has in the past. I hope he admits defeat and is willing to save the lives of some of our fighting men and women. I have been in the same situation as these men and women and it isn't a pretty sight.

Yes, Bush and Team need to make a change in course. The problem is that their stubborn and arragont attitude in the past causes one to pause.

To accomplish any meaningful change, one needs credibility both domestically and internationally. I dont think they have it nor can they regain it.

We need a change at the top. Whether a new Democratic or Reblication administration, it doesnt matter. The question is can we afford to wait two years?

Iraq is like the humpty dumpty story. All the kings men and all the kings horses cannot put Iraq back together again. Baker and Hamilton are sincere in their desire to mitigate the damage caused by the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfield-Wolfowitz fiasco. But I see little hope of a miracle happening.

While the US is "adjusting its role" the insurgents will "adjust their role" and all will be the same. What I see is nothing more than "musts" shoulds and ought tos with no specific plan.

Take this: US guard the oil fields and the straights of Hormuth. Leave the rest to the Iraquis and pull one half of our troops home, one quarter to guard the oil fields and one quarter to Kuwait. After a while the people will take charge. The enemy has Iraq in a box and will use the century old Sunni-Shia conflict to their advantage. I predict nothing will happen. By the way I am a republican.

This is long overdue. I hope that when the president refers to acting in a "timely manner" he considers the timetable of Iraq and not that of his own agenda. Discussions should go ahead with Iran and Syria and should be headed by an ambassador that is not currently a member of the executive or legislative branch. Jimmy Carter comes first to mind, as does James Baker and Colin Powell.

I ALSO SUGGEST THAT THE U.S SHOULD WITHDRAW ITS TROUPS AND ALLOW THE IRAQI TO HANDLE THE SITUATION.WHAT THE IRAQI COULD NEED FROM U.S IT'S THEIR ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT. BY DOING SO THERE WILL BE AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE SECURITY SECTOR AS WELL AS THE REDUCTION OF THE RATE OF BOMBARDMENT.PLEASE, GIVE THEM HOPE
MANY THANKS

As a military wife I understand the importance of the withdrawl of troops. It is time for our young men and women to come home and spend time with there families. Although we understood the deployments in the begining to be in protection of this great nation. It has seemed to fade with time and american casualties that this plan or "startgey" was showing any hope on this new type of war. The Bush administration simpliy needs to step off the stubern stool and change its direction NOW for the only thing promised in life is that of change.

Is there anything in the report that hasn't been painfully obvious to the objective American for quite some time now? It always amazes me how politicians seem so unwilling to bury their pride for fear that any doubt they show in an initial position they once held will be construed as weakness. The irony of the matter is that what we crave as citizens is honesty, and humbleness in our leaders. Few people with political ambitions seem to realize this, but the few who do seldom need to worry so much about their re-election campaigns.

The Iraqi Army is a chimera. It is rive with backers of Shiite and Sunni cliques that will break apart and start fighting each other, eventually. Acting on the panel's recommendation, America will no doubt throw more money at the Iraqi Army. Vietnam proved that this is just a waste of resources, that would be better spent leaving the situation to its inevitable and lamentable conclusion.

I have been against the war from the beginning. However, in the medium to long term to leave abruptly would be worse then the current situation. Given the initial and ongoing ineptness of this administration I do not foresee them making a change that would actually help stablize and manage the situation in Iraq. I believe the administration will pay lip service to the report and then begin the spin game and take some obtuse course that does not make the situation any better. Given the bi-partisan nature of the report if the President and crew do not follow it's recommendations maybe it should be time we seek legal proceedings against them. Someone needs to be accountable for this catastrophe.

President Bush will not be pressured. He will stay the course he thinks God put him on. Nothing else matters.He guaranteed the loss of Affghanistan and the entire middle east when he diverted from the so called war on terror in Afghanistan and against all good advice attacked Iraq to destabilize the middle east and set up his new order he thinks God told him to. It was guaranteed to fail from the get go and no one can stop it now.

While this report is an important step, the president is probably too boxed in to do anything with it. His credibility gap is so large it may take the next president to be able to solve anything- if Iraq can stay stable that long. Condoleeza Rice cannot broker a peace deal, she simply doesn't have the gravitas necessary for the issues anymore. Bill Clinton does and should be tapped as a special envoy but Bush can't do that either. He could try and enlist his father and Clinton but Bush the elder is just too old. The best hope now lies with Gates and a new Congress. If they can force these recommendations, we have a shot. Whoever wins in 2008 simply inherits this mess. Bush is a lame duck and he's punted.

The
Baker/Hamilton Commission has delivered the much awaited report to the president and the American people. Thank god!! Hopefully, this report will give the White House enough cover to finally put sensible policies in place regarding Iraq. Enough American blood has been spilled and enough American capital and just as important, enough global good will toward America which has been lost by this predsident and his cabal of "experts". When I was a kid, I lived though Vietnam and the resulting years of post Vietnam trauma and heard a lot of talk about how America would never be put in that situation again. Well, guess what, we have been put in that position again. My personal beliefs are that this president should be impeached and several of his key advisors should at least face a severe grilling before the Senate and House. Thankfully, January 20, 2009 cannot come quickly enough.

I would suggest that the troop withdraw should be 100% as quickly as possible. Nothing is gained by partial or slow procedure. If help is deemed necessary for Iraq it can be supplied with funds and nothing additional. Our intervention destroyed the nation's infrastructure. This is a case where the incompetence of our President has created a problem that we cannot solve.

I fully support president Bush on this issue and am confident that he and his staff will take the Baker-Hamilton Report seriously. I do however, commend president Bush for his continual leadership on Iraq and the "War on Terror". President Bush has my full and unconditional support.

I see somebody has left the door to the outhouse open again. It's just too easy these days to fall in.

Too little too late, the dammage is already done.

I had the experience in the Korea War. A simple question how many of the panel and Bush were in a war zone? The money spent and the greive brought to our and Iraq families.
Where is more money to come form?

The horror of this war, the deaths of hundreds of thousand Iraqi citizens is something left out - as the deaths of our
troops and those wounded, for life, maimed. I believe that these horrors are
all to be blamed on this Administration.
We have our own country, in shambles; the money spent KILLING people, should have been spent, saving*lives, the poor, the Katrina victims. the health care system that is
a scandal; The people of Iraq want us
OUT of their country and my belief is we need to get out, and leave them be
and their inner suffering will on hopes
be healed. WE are the Aggressors, WE
have ruined their country, bombed and
killed their people! Bush has NO conscience nor does Cheney-they were trying to act as if they were Gods
over, the rest of the peoples of the planet...live our way, think our thoughts. And look at our homeland!
We NEED help, we need alternative sources of energy/we need free health
care for the poor+elderly, tax relief total for the poor; Education. Funding for housing; We can "set ourselves as an EXAMPLE" of a great Democracy, and thereby, others in their own time,
might wish to emulate us. Not kill everyone/to force the rest to comply and BE what WE THINK they should be.
A region with thousands of years of culture and history. This has been
just a slaughter house. I am so ashamed of us.

It's pretty interesting that the President says that the country is tired of all of the political bickering in Washington about Iraq. That coming from a man who demonized the Democrats on the campaign trail, even though many of them (e.g., Joe Biden, Jack Reed, and Carl Levin) were offering serious, "reality based" plans. All Bush seemed to offer were the same straw men.

This is an honest commission. But are the ruling politicians in these countries, from Syria to the USA statesmen enough to recognize the need to work together for the good of the world? Bush may say he will take the report seriously but he said already he doesn't agree with all of it. He calls for an end to political bickering. Is he ready for it himself?

Too little, too late. How does one end a fiasco? Bush needs to be impeached.

Political bickering? What on Earth is George W. talking about? It can't be the Scorched Earth politics he and Karl Rove have been practicing since 2000. Building Political Consenus within this country? That should be second nature for the "Great Uniter not a Divider". You reap what you sow says the Bible.

A central point of the commission's work is that losing Iraq could trigger a regional war, and thus we can't afford to lose the war.

Withdrawing our troops is risky, but perhaps not any more so than leaving them as is, which clearly isn't working.

Less risky, but currently impossible, would be a true occupation that could establish stability with enough forces to do the job.

Why is that impossible? Because this president has no credibility and could not ask young Americans and their families to volunteer so long as his failed presidency would command them.

The Baker commission report is all fine and good, but it isn't a bold strategy, it's a compromise strategy. A bold strategy would be for Mr. Bush to ask Mr. Cheney to resign, appoint a new, credible VP, and then resign himself, leaving the country with a new President, who, capitalizing on the sense of urgency this would create, might be able to rededicate the US to cleaning up its mess.

Otherwise, we are pretty much doomed to the fate the factions in Iraq work out for us.

MORE POLITICAL HOGWASH AND MORE OF OUR SOLDIERS KILLED FOR NOTHING , EXCEPT SOMEONE'S INFLATED EGO.

How can we "deal with" the Israeli-Arab conflict now that we've adopted such an overt, pro-Israeli stance? We've become partisans and have lost whatever power to mediate that we might have had.

Thank you, masters of the obvious! All of this was painfully self-evident even before the Iraq Study Group was convened. I imagine the commissioners will get to pad their resumes even more now. And their speaking fees will probably go up. So, at least, some good will come of it.

How much did this sideshow cost the taxpayers, anyway?

It sounds like the Baker commission is recomending the very things that should have been done from the beginning.
I hope it's not to late to salvage something from this mess.

One of the most striking statements I noted is in the beginning of the executive summary, which states: "Our political leaders must build a bipartisan approach to
bring a responsible conclusion to what is now a lengthy and
costly war."

To me, what the commission is saying: "enough is enough" to the Bush Administration. It is time to bring our troop home and end this war (responsibly). This also implies that the commission has concluded that United States has done what it can and there is not anything else that can be accomplished by continuing the war. In other words, it's time to talk about peace instead of war.

A very, VERY welcome to approach PEACE.

More needs to be said about the disappearance of billions that the Iraqi received to build their armed forces. With the money gone no wonder they don't have the resources -- who took off with it? Maybe some people we don't want to mention are involved?

Preposterous. Leaving Iraq is the most inconsiderate thing America could do at the moment. Let's all stop whining, suck it up, and finish the job. People are dying, and we're the only ones who can really help. Yes it will cost us time and money - but you don't make friends in a few years' time with a people who have been under a constant barrage of misinformation.

many mistakes have made by your president,the solution in my opinion is to start a free talke with iran and syria ,and try to give the palastinains there righs to have an independent country,all these things will make by stoping the suport to israeilian government

You guys still don't get it, do you? You think Ahmadinejad, Assad, and all those wonderful Jhihadis don't have access to calendars? They can keep their powder dry after some grand International Conference until we leave in '08 and then, as Emeril Lagasse would say "BAM!!" Iran for one is looking forward to making Iraq a satellite, as they'd like to do with Lebanon. THESE GUYS MEAN BUSINESS AND THEY SMELL BLOOD. They won't succeed in pushing Israel out of the Middle East and setting up some sort of Caliphate in the region but then again, Hitler didn't succeed either, but millions lost their lives in the process. I guess history does repeat itself. At the very least you have a brutal Sunni vs. Shia conflict with much bloodshed, yes even more than now, and our soldiers will have died in vain. Oh well, maybe Hillary can fix it!

I believe the Shiite militas will not back off and will continue to fight the Sunnis. If this continues we should redeploy our troops to the only area in Iraq where people still welcome us - the Kurdish sector.
From there we can help protect our Kurdish friends and still maintain a presence in Iraq.
Our moving out of and ceasing to protect the Green Zone might motivate the Shiite politicians holed up there to get serious about making the Iraqi army and police more effective and take over the job. But probably this will not happen and the militias will remain in power, which is the status quo now. Shiite Iran will probably become an Islamic dominated dictatorship like Iran no matter what we do. At least moving our presence to Kurdistan would enable us to prevent our Kurdish friends from being dominated by such fanatics.

I have always beleived that the USA has statesmen who can pull the chestnut out of the fire and Jim Baker is one such statesman and patriot.But the main issue is whether the current adminstration made up mostly of ordinary politicians can rise to the occasion in dealing with Iraq.Time will tell.It beggars beleif how poor political leadership has even managed to lay low a country and super power which is(not was) the beacon of personal liberty and the standard bearer of that which is morally correct in the world.

what do they propose to do about " bioshield " and in case of a terroist attack , a vaccine to be used for " radiation sickness " .

Surrendering 25 million people to 20,000 cutthroats will cause millions of American lives here at home when the emboldened terrorists detonate Iranian-supplied nuclear devices here. Oh, well, the Democrats can blame Bush for stirring them up...This is Munich in the nuclear age. I hope the President doesn't give a rat's patoot for the cut-and -runners.

While the proposals are sound, it would require a competent administrator to carry them out. Bush is a born bungler.

Sounds reasonable to me...lets hope Bush does not turn a blind eye

The U.S. Generals should be fired for their incompetence. Definitely, we need a George Patton and not some politically motivated Generals who will blantantly lie about the situation in Iraq to save their jobs.

Bush pledged to take its recommendations for war policy in Iraq "very seriously," though "we probably won't agree with every proposal."

This sound to me like diplomatic talk for "the report will be filed under, "for longterm storage" and will be forgotten.

Even Baker admitted "This is not legislation and it's not an executive order. It does not bind anyone"

And Hamilton, another panel member admitted "We're not the only group in town making recommendations here. We recognize that our report is only one, and there will be many recommendations. But the report will stand on its own and be accepted or rejected on its own."

Imagine having the effrontery to pontificate on the Middle East while representing the Saudis against their Amerian victims? James Baker III is the senior partner of Baker, Botts law firm, which is representing Saudi Arabia in the lawsuit filed against the kingdom by the relatives of the victims of the September 11 attacks. He is owned and operated by the Saudi royal family. 'Nuff said.

anyone forget that we had PEACE before a treasonous unelected "president" took us to war under (proven) false pretenses.
With prior intent and knowledge that he was misleading the public- a mass murderer and a thief and a liar to boot.
IMPEACH!

DONT TRUST BAKER

Peace and justice go together.
Without justice or the feeling that one is being unjustly treated there can be no peace.

The first priority the U.S. should do in the middle east is to be seen as a just brother. The U.S. should treat the middle eastern countries - Arabs, Jews, and Christians alike.

Lead Follow or get the hell out of the way we need to win

Mike, I think you did a great job last night at GW moderating "Taking the Hill" discussion. Very concise and intelligent. Keep up the good work on this blog and in the mag!