Amb. Crocker 'Frustrated' With Slow Progress in Iraq

Sept. 10, 2007 — -- When President Bush announced his new strategy for Iraq in January, surging 30,000 U.S. troops to Iraq, administration officials said the new plan would buy the Iraqi government time to make progress on critical political issues that are seen as the key to Iraq's long-term progress.

Today, two and a half months after the surge was fully deployed, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker told Congress the improved security afforded by the surge has indeed created the conditions to facilitate political progress. He warned, however, the fragile gains could be wiped away if the United States downgraded its presence in the country.

"It is possible for the United States to see its goals realized in Iraq, and that Iraqis are capable of tackling and addressing the problems confronting them today," Crocker testified to Congress Monday.

Crocker suggested the troop escalation has stemmed terror attacks, allowing the Iraqi government some breathing room to address political reconciliation.

"Our population and security measures have made it much harder for terrorists to conduct attacks," Crocker told a joint session of the House Foreign Affairs and House Armed Services Committees. "We have given Iraqis the time and space to reflect on what sort of country they want."

"In my judgment, the cumulative trajectory of political, economic and diplomatic developments in Iraq is upwards, although the slope of that line is not steep," he said. "The seeds of reconciliation are being planted," he added, though he admitted to being "frustrated" with the slow pace of political progress by the Iraqis.

Though his testimony has been overshadowed by that of the commanding general in Iraq David Petraeus, who testified alongside Crocker on lightning rod issues such as U.S. force levels and casualties, Crocker testified on issues that are likely to determine the long-term prospects for Iraq.

Crocker was only able to tell Congress that the Iraqi government has been able to make marginal progress during the improved security climate provided by Petraeus' forces, though he said this was happening under "some of the most profound political, economic and security challenges imaginable."

A report released last week by the independent, nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found that Iraq's government met only three of 18 benchmarks for political progress. Crocker did not provide his own assessment of those benchmarks, but he did take indirect aim at the report and was only cautiously optimistic about Iraq's political future.