Consensus in Iraq Study Group

George Bush’s fellow Republicans lost control of the US Congress earlier this month largely because of public dissatisfaction over the war, in which 2,885 US forces have died since the March 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

 

 

Many in Washington believe the group’s report may provide the impetus for a change in policy or, at the very least, recommendations on how to move forward that may attract support from Democrats and Republicans.

 

The panel of five Republicans and five Democrats has been studying critical questions such as whether the US should begin to withdraw some of its nearly 140,000 troops from Iraq amid accelerating sectarian violence.

 

One source close to the panel’s deliberations said, “There were very intense debates and they came up with some compromises to get everybody on board.

“I’m not saying that every ‘T’ has been crossed, but I’m saying it’s far enough along now that they know they can do it on the 6th. The major disagreements, they’ve settled,” the source added