"Realists" rebuke Bush, neocons

[maddezmom]

By Glenn Kessler and Thomas E. Ricks

The Washington Post


WASHINGTON — The Iraq Study Group report released Wednesday might well be titled "The Realist Manifesto."

From the very first page, in which co-chairs James Baker and Lee Hamilton scold that "our leaders must be candid and forthright with the American people," the bipartisan report is nothing less than a repudiation of the Bush administration's diplomatic and military approach to Iraq and to the whole region.

Throughout its pages, the report reflects the foreign-policy establishment's disdain for the "neoconservative" policies long espoused by President Bush and his aides. But while many of its recommendations stem from the "realist" school of foreign policy, it is unclear whether a radically different approach could make much difference nearly four years after the invasion of Iraq.

The administration's effort to spread democracy to Arab lands is not mentioned in the report, except to note briefly that most countries in the region are wary of it. The report urges direct talks with Iran and Syria, both of which the administration largely has shunned.

It also calls for placing new emphasis on resolving the Israel-Arab conflict, including pressing Israel to reach a peace deal with Syria, on the grounds that the issue shapes regional attitudes about the U.S. involvement in Iraq.


Overall, it strongly suggests that Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have bungled diplomacy in the region with unrealistic objectives and narrow strategies.

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