What is Iraq Giving Back?

[SWJED]

5 May Washington Times commentary - What is Iraq Giving Back? By Terence P. Jeffrey.

... The prospect of a long, hot summer with American soldiers dying in escalating numbers in Iraq while Iraqi legislators enjoy an extended vacation sent Defense Secretary Robert Gates to Baghdad last month. He warned Mr. al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders that the U.S. commitment in Iraq is not "open-ended," and that the de-Ba'athification and oil reforms must pass before Iraq's parliament takes a vacation. Mr. Gates got no commitment from the Iraqis.

If the "surge" strategy fails, it will not be because Democrats in Congress blocked it. It will not be because some terrorist group or insurgency defeated the U.S. military. It will be because elected members of the Iraqi parliament failed to live up to President Bush's expectations.

[jcustis]

Wow, the Iraqi government is failing to live up President Bush's expectations? That's an intriguing analysis by Mr. Jeffrey. Those folks are taking a recess during a critical time...isn't that what democratically-elected legislatures do in times of need?

Folks need to get with the times and come to grasp with certain realities. Should the lack of urgency be ignored? Definitely not, but for crying out loud, we've been telling them (through inadvertent IO in the US media) that COIN takes time, and that results are not an overnight thing.

Does anyone else see the impact of such mixed signals? I recognize that al-Maliki may just be dragging his feet along with everyone else because he already has a weak position, or may actually have more nefarious goals in mind across the long haul, but what if we are actually just confusing them?