Changes on Iraq crucial, panel says

WASHINGTON — The bipartisan Iraq Study Group issued its report Wednesday, calling the situation there "grave and deteriorating" and recommending against the Bush administration's "stay the course" approach.

In a 160-page paperback book, the 10-person panel of former government officials makes 79 recommendations on such things as diplomacy policy, oil, military priorities, training for Iraqi police forces and its military, and U.S. economic assistance.

Among its recommendations, the panel said the United States should work to withdraw most of its combat forces from Iraq by the first quarter of 2008, engage Iran and Syria diplomatically and begin a new push for a comprehensive peace between Israelis and Arabs.

"We do not recommend a 'stay the course' solution. In our opinion that approach is no longer viable," said James Baker III, the group's co-chairman. "There is no magic formula that will solve the problems of Iraq."

The group purposely left out words like "victory" and "civil war" in the book, Baker said, to avoid a lot of the terms used during the campaign season and to make the report as nonpolitical as possible.

The report also does not lay out a specific timetable for troop withdrawal, but if Iraq's own military forces can take over basic combat functions, troops could leave starting in 2008.

"By the first quarter of 2008, subject to unexpected developments in the security situation on the ground, all combat brigades not necessary for force protection could be out of Iraq," according to the report.

The group presented the report to President Bush, who said it "will be taken very seriously by this administration" and "brings some really interesting proposals."

"This report will give us all an opportunity to find common ground for the good of the country, not for the good of the Republican Party or the Democratic Party but for the good of the country, " Bush said.

Utah National Guard spokesman Hank McIntire said he could not speak with "authority" on how the report will affect Utah troops' morale in Iraq. He did say, however, that the report could be a "catalyst" for change.

"The feedback I get from soldiers returning from Iraq is that we are making a difference over there and that we need to stay there until the mission is done," McIntire said. "And 'done' may ultimately be redefined by changes in policy or strategy in keeping with the recommendations of the report. If so, soldiers will support a change of mission and carry out whatever they are asked to do."