White House goes on attack to undermine GAO report flunking president's surge strategy

benchmark

-noun

1. a standard of excellence, achievement, etc., against which similar things must be measured or judged: The war in Iraq sets a benchmark in poor leadership.

2. any standard or reference by which others can be measured or judged: The president's surge in Iraq may become the benchmark for wartime propaganda.

We've been hearing it for more than a month now: "The surge is working." Despite the administration's assertions, a new Government Accountability Office report to be released sometime around Sept. 1 will report that at least 13 of the 18 benchmarks to measure the surge of U.S. troops to Iraq are unfulfilled ahead of a September 15 deadline -- this, according to the Washington Post, which has seen a draft of the report. That's when Bush is to give a detailed accounting of the situation eight months after he announced the policy.

The GAO is the investigative arm of Congress, charged with examining matters relating to the receipt and payment of public funds.

Anticipating the failing marks, the Bush Administration is preparing to attack the 69-page report.

An internal White House memorandum, prepared to respond to the GAO findings, says the report will claim the Iraqis have failed on at least 13 benchmarks. It also says the criteria lawmakers set for the report allow no room to report progress, only absolute success or failure.

The memo argues that the GAO will not present a "true picture" of the situation in Iraq because the standards were "designed to lock in failure," according to portions of the document read to the AP by an official who has seen it.

Congress, which controls spending, told the GAO to "assess whether or not such benchmarks have been met," and the administration plans to assert that is too tough a standard to be met at this point in the surge (Note: In January of this year, September was given as the time the surge would last until), administration officials said.

Back in January, when the president announced his plan to temporarily surge an additional 30,000 troops in and around Baghdad, he described how he would use benchmarks to measure its success. The administration accepted the notion of benchmarks to measure the plan's progress until only recently, after it had become clear that those benchmarks would not be met.

The GAO questions some of the White House's conclusions, and says that, in the future, the administration should take more views into consideration and back up its findings more extensively. The GAO found there really hasn't been a decrease in violence against Iraqis and says there has been a marked decrease in the number of Iraqi army units that can operate without assistance. Even though the GAO's mandate was to provide a yes or no judgment on the benchmarks, it does say two have been "partially met." A government official apparently gave the report to the [Washington] Post fearing the "pessimistic conclusions would be watered down in the final version."

Expect...

...the administration and conservative media outlets to aggressively undermine the findings in the GAO report, the GAO itself, Congress for requesting the report in the first place, and anyone who dares accept the GAO's conclusions.

The 18 Iraq Surge Benchmarks...

Benchmark No. 1: The Constitutional Review
Forming a Constitutional Review Committee and then completing the constitutional review.

Benchmark No. 2: De-Ba’athification and reconciliation
Enacting and implementing legislation on de-Ba’athification reform.

Benchmark No. 3: Hydrocarbon law
Two parts:
a. Enacting and implementing legislation to ensure the equitable distribution of hydrocarbon resources to the people of Iraq without regard to the sect or ethnicity of recipients, and
b. enacting and implementing legislation to ensure that the energy resources of Iraq benefit Sunni Arabs, Shi’a Arabs, Kurds, and other Iraqi citizens in an equitable manner.

Benchmark No. 4: Semi-autonomous regions
Enacting and implementing legislation on procedures to form semi-autonomous regions. (Primarily Kurdistan, but could eventually extend to some other minority groups in concentrated locations such as Assyrian Christians).

Benchmark No. 5: Regimes for Free and fair elections
This is actually four different benchmarks: Enacting and implementing legislation establishing an
a. Independent High Electoral Commission,
b. provincial elections law, c. provincial council authorities, and
d. a date for provincial elections.

Benchmark No. 6: Amnesty & reconciliation
Enacting and implementing legislation addressing amnesty.

Benchmark No. 7: Militia disarmament
Enacting and implementing legislation establishing a strong militia disarmament program to ensure that such security forces are accountable only to the central government and loyal to the constitution of Iraq.

Benchmark No. 8: Non-military support of security goals
Establishing supporting political, media, economic, and services committees in support of the Baghdad Security Plan.

Benchmark No. 9: Developing national military
Providing three trained and ready Iraqi brigades to support Baghdad operations.

Benchmark No. 10: Enabling Iraqi military
Providing Iraqi commanders with all authorities to execute this plan and to make tactical and operational decisions in consultation with U.S. Commanders without political intervention, to include the authority to pursue all extremists including Sunni insurgents and Sh’iite militias.

Benchmark No. 11: Rule of law
Ensuring that the Iraqi Security Forces are providing even-handed enforcement of the law.

Benchmark No. 12: Arresting security failure/ save havens/terrorism

Benchmark No. 13: Reducing sectarian violence
Reducing the level of sectarian violence in Iraq and eliminating militia control of local security.

Benchmark No. 14: Neighborhood watch
Establishing all of the planned joint security stations in neighborhoods across Baghdad.

Benchmark No. 15: Security independence
Increasing the number of Iraqi security forces units capable of operating independently.

Benchmark No. 16: Minorities as important as majorities
Ensuring that the rights of minority political parties in the legislature are protected.

Benchmark No. 17: Reconstruction efforts
Allocating and spending USD 10 billion in Iraqi revenues for reconstruction projects, including delivery of essential services, on an equitable basis.

Benchmark No. 18: National unity, part one of one million
Ensuring that Iraq’s political authorities are not undermining or making false accusations against members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF).

UPDATE 9/1/2007: Civilian deaths from violence in Iraq rose 7% in August

• August 30, 2007

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