One first reaction to the Iraq Study Group report

I just wanted to share my thoughts about this document
while they are fresh.

As I read the Iraq Study Group report, as summarized
in its own executive summary and also in the NY Times
reporting, I am disappointed with the lack of any
explicit recognition of the injury our U.S. Government
has done to the people of Iraq, in the region, to the
United Nations system of international law, and, not
least, to ourselves. Doesn't the Christian faith
tradition require a practice of confession before
reconciliation can go forward?

My attention was caught by the phrase "move ts combat
forces out of Iraq responsibly." How, exactly, did
they get there and what have they been doing so that
we now are seeking to move them out? I know that it
will seem futile to point out that a series of bad
choices led us to this decision point. I simply want
to note that it was a very irresponsible act to send
an armed invasion force to Iraq and it seems
optimistic to hope that these men and women can now be
extracted responsibly.

The diplomatic initiatives envisioned by the ISG,
specifically with Syria and Iran, with wish lists of
how the members of this group wish these neighbors to
change their policies and practices, offers no list of
incentives or concessions that the U.S. could imagine
providing to Iran and Syria in order to help stabilize
a region that has been destabilized by acts of war
initiated by the United States and the United Kingdom.
The ISG makes no recommendations in its summary about
using the United Nations Security Council or other
U.N. institutions to address the crisis in Iraq. This
may be consistent with U.S. policy, which has sought
to mislead the U.N. with false claims about
nonexistent threats before the war and then ignored
opposition by thoughtful U.N. member states in our
rush to war in 2003. In my opinion, it does not serve
the interests of Christian faithful and other people
of conscience and goodwill who seek strengthening of
our system of international law as a way to check the
unlawful actions of sovereign states.

The reminder by the ISG that "there must be a renewed
and sustained commitment by the United States to a
comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace on all fronts" was
welcome. I see this as an implicit criticism of U.S.
policy which has allowed successive governments of
Israel to behave without consequences toward people
and communities on lands occupied after the 1967 war.
The challenge this policy recommendation would pose to
long-established U.S. relationships is not described.

The focus on "milestones" that the Government of Iraq
must meet to move toward national reconciliation,
security, and governance will shift responsibilities
to that government, largely a creation of U.S.
occupation and election strategies, without examining
its own capacity for reaching these. As with the No
Child Left Behind system of high-stakes testing, the
ISG milestones appear to justify the departure of U.S.
forces but have little concern for the outcome and its
consequences for the Iraqi people. If there was a
moral justification initially for rescuing Iraqi
people from lawlessness and tyranny, has that moral
obligation now been shifted to Nuri al-Maliki and his
government so the U.S. can, in a scene that calls to
my mind Matthew 27:24 as Pilate washes his hands in order to
assert his innocence, pretend that we can evade our
responsibility for the violence and loss?

I am glad that the Iraq Study Group has offered a
strong signal that the time has come for a change. I
wish that more attention had been given to those of us
who opposed the rush to war in 2002-03 and predicted
many of the consequences described by the ISG. I would
hope that as we bring people together at the National
Cathedral on Friday, March 16, we have a deeper
response to our national crisis than a program that
manages to avoid much reflection or call for sacrifice
to heal the wounds of this war.

All best wishes for Advent,
Mike Benefiel

p.s. You can get your own copy of the report as an Adobe Acrobat [.pdf] document from the U.S.Institute of Peace. Even on a broadband connection, it takes a long time to download almost 100 pages. Barnes and Noble and its online
sales bookstore are promoting the full text for about
$10.00. It was in my local bookstore yesterday.