Hamilton paints bleak Iraq picture

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Hamilton paints bleak Iraq picture
By Ben Breier
July 16, 2007

Former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.), co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, said Monday that Iraq’s government is far from “resolving sectarian differences” and that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has underperformed as the country’s leader.

Hamilton also said in an interview with NBC’s “Today Show” that Iraq’s forces will not be able to provide the complete security for the country any time soon.

“These Iraqi forces that we have been training now for several years simply have not measured up overall,” Hamilton said, adding that it would take “a remarkable bit of progress in a very short period of time for them to meet the prime minister’s goals” of allowing Iraq’s forces to take over security by the end of the year.

Hamilton was highly critical of Maliki: “He’s had quite a bit of time now,” the former congressman said. “He’s known exactly what he has to do; he hasn’t done it. His rhetoric is pretty good; his performance is pretty bad.”

The Iraqi parliament “has been a huge disappointment all along” and is “not dealing with the fundamental problems of the country,” Hamilton said.

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