Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq

The August 2006 Quarterly Report: Progress but Far from the Facts the Nation Needs and Deserves

The August 2006 quarterly report to Congress on "Measuring Security and Stability in Iraq" was carefully released Friday, just before a Labor Day weekend. This may have been to minimize reporting on the extent to which it reflects a major increase in the risk of a civil war.

 

While the new report is more frank about this risk -- and many other aspects of the situation in Iraq -- it still has many major flaws and omissions, and there are some areas where the reporting seems to deliberately disguise major problems and risks.

 

The attached report acts as a user guide to the report’s strengths and weaknesses, key issues that merit media and analytic attention, and key areas where improvements are still needed in the quality and integrity of Department of Defense reporting. Topics discussed will include reporting on:

  • Political and Economic Progress
  • Attack Trends and the Nature of the Conflict
  • Progress in Training the Iraqi Security Forces
  • Progress in Assuming Leadership in Counterinsurgency
  • US Force Adjustments
  • Governance and the Provincial Iraqi Control Plan
  • Analyses of Progress by Service of MOI and MOD Forces

 

Image
Anthony H. Cordesman

Anthony H. Cordesman

Former Emeritus Chair in Strategy

Anthony H. Cordesman