January 11, 2007

Bush Speech (III)

Re: benchmarks:

A successful strategy for Iraq goes beyond military operations. Ordinary Iraqi citizens must see that military operations are accompanied by visible improvements in their neighborhoods and communities. So America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks it has announced.

How, exactly? Bush goes on:

To establish its authority, the Iraqi government plans to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November. To give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy, Iraq will pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis. To show that it is committed to delivering a better life, the Iraqi government will spend 10 billion dollars of its own money on reconstruction and infrastructure projects that will create new jobs. To empower local leaders, Iraqis plan to hold provincial elections later this year. And to allow more Iraqis to re-enter their nation's political life, the government will reform de-Baathification laws ­ and establish a fair process for considering amendments to Iraq's constitution. [emphasis added throughout]

All well and good, but again, what are the benchmarks, precisely? Further, the notion that the Iraqi government will be able to "take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November" is just risible.

Posted by Gregory at January 11, 2007 03:48 AM