The report can be accessed online (pdf) either through the Baker Institute website or the United State Institute of Peace website.
I will publish a map (flow chart) which will present a summery of the report as I read through it here.
The Iraqi Study Group Report is important to read for two main reasons: it provides a basic background of the current Iraqi situation in a comprehensive and simple language, while presenting the American take on it. Sort of a "dummies guide to Iraqi mess," if you wish.
Update: Abu Aardvark has interesting things to say about the ISG report on his blog.
Update: I have completed the flow chart. It summarizes the first part of the Report, which has three major parts altogether. The first part is the most crucial one, I believe, because it explains the American problem in Iraq.
Update (12/9/06): A bit late, but it's important to mention that the ISG findings are not very popular within the Middle East.
Iraqi Reaction
According to The Guardian, a "senior security adviser to the prime minister" rejects the proposal of joining the reported-to-be corrupt police force under the so-called less corrupt Iraqi Defence ministry, which commands the Iraqi army. " 'Like too many of the Baker report's recommendations, it is likely to cause more problems than it solves," said the security official, who probably belongs to the interior minstry (Al Jazeera does not say he does). The Interior Ministry is in charge of the Iraqi Police. "The interior ministry needs cleaning of some bad elements, and we are doing so. Transferring the national police lock, stock and barrel to the defence ministry is unworkable and unrealistic."Note that the Defense Ministry is led by Hajim al-Hassani, a Sunni. The Ministry of the Interior is led by Shiites. The above objection could be based (and probably is) on sectarian differences.
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The leader of the northern Kurdish region in Iraq has rebuked the Iraq Study Group's report. Al Jazeera reports the Kurds in the north oppose the ISG findings. "Massoud Barzani, the president of the northern Iraqi Kurdistan region, accused the commission on Friday of trying to impose the 'wrong solutions' on the Iraqi people," the article says.
Arguments about the control over natural resources (more politically correct than saying 'oil', but the same thing) of Iraq between the Kurds and the government have been on the rise lately. The Kurds oppose to the government's control over natural sources, and argue in favor of privatization: "Barzani was sharply critical of the report's recommendation that the Iraqi central government should have control over the natural resources of the country and said that the mechanism of natural wealth distribution in the constitution was sufficient."
Most of the oil in Iraq is concentrated in the south, an area under Shiite control. The northern part of the country comes close-second, with most of the oil refineries.
The motivations here should be obvious: Giving control on the oil to Iraq's current Shia-biased government is bad news to the Kurds, who prefer to do business with oil companies themselves.
The images blow show an approximate devision of Iraq by the sub-groups (left) and oil distribution (right).
Credits go to NPR, for the sub-groups map and ReliefWeb, for the oil distribution map.
Israeli Reaction
Arguments about the control over natural resources (more politically correct than saying 'oil', but the same thing) of Iraq between the Kurds and the government have been on the rise lately. The Kurds oppose to the government's control over natural sources, and argue in favor of privatization: "Barzani was sharply critical of the report's recommendation that the Iraqi central government should have control over the natural resources of the country and said that the mechanism of natural wealth distribution in the constitution was sufficient."
Most of the oil in Iraq is concentrated in the south, an area under Shiite control. The northern part of the country comes close-second, with most of the oil refineries.
The motivations here should be obvious: Giving control on the oil to Iraq's current Shia-biased government is bad news to the Kurds, who prefer to do business with oil companies themselves.
The images blow show an approximate devision of Iraq by the sub-groups (left) and oil distribution (right).
Credits go to NPR, for the sub-groups map and ReliefWeb, for the oil distribution map.
Israeli Reaction
In an interview with Ynet, former Israeli U.N. Ambassador Dore Gold expresses concern over "the very willingness of the reports' author to start a dialogue both Iran and with Syria... because the United States isn't requiring any preliminary conditions for this dialogue, and there is no mention of the Iranian nuclear program which continues to advance."
Gold said Syria will only continue to destabilize the area if given the chance, and that Israel "has been unsuccessful in conveying a clear message to the US elite regarding the Iranian threat."
Israel watches the Iranian nuclear program worryingly. Israel's Prime Minister, Ehud Olmart, has tried to urge the U.S. into pressuring Iran in a recent meeting with President Bush.
An Israeli army official, Major General Uzi Dayan expressed his opinion of the report: "what should worry Israel is the lack of leadership and vision," referring to the strategies offered in the report.
it follows with about 20 headlines from newspapers in the Middle East condemning the ISG findings.
Gold said Syria will only continue to destabilize the area if given the chance, and that Israel "has been unsuccessful in conveying a clear message to the US elite regarding the Iranian threat."
Israel watches the Iranian nuclear program worryingly. Israel's Prime Minister, Ehud Olmart, has tried to urge the U.S. into pressuring Iran in a recent meeting with President Bush.
An Israeli army official, Major General Uzi Dayan expressed his opinion of the report: "what should worry Israel is the lack of leadership and vision," referring to the strategies offered in the report.
More Reactions
The BBC Media Reports said "most Middle East newspapers view the Baker-Hamilton [or the ISG report] report as an admission of US failure in Iraq. Many are sceptical it will lead to positive change."it follows with about 20 headlines from newspapers in the Middle East condemning the ISG findings.
1 comments:
good motion picture
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