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Analysis: A Menu of Options on Iraq

Council on Foreign Relations

December 14, 2006
Prepared by: Lionel Beehner

With Congress soon to change hands, a critical report on Iraq grabbing headlines, and an incoming defense secretary with different views from his predecessor, President Bush’s Iraq policy appears poised to change. Bush postponed a major speech on the matter until early next year to consider other in-house reports, and rumors swirl he may embrace a short-term “surge” (LAT) in the number of U.S. forces deployed. Bush’s clearest signal so far is that he rejects calls for an early withdrawal of troops. In Iraq, meanwhile, car bombs and other attacks kill Iraqis on a daily basis and growing numbers are seeking protection from local militias.

The latest plan to tamp down the violence, floated by Iraqi officials, envisions Iraqi armed forces assuming responsibility for securing the capital, leaving the U.S. military free to fight foreign jihadis in Anbar province (SFChron). Another plan, devised by outgoing U.S. commander in Iraq Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, would shift half of the U.S. military’s fifteen combat brigades toward advisory missions and boost the number of embedded trainers threefold (WashPost). The effectiveness of advisory missions in training Iraqi forces is examined in this new Backgrounder.

But military action and training missions without significant political progress will not solve Iraq’s woes, argues Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.

Copyright 2006 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.