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Analysis: Strange Summer Days for the U.S. and Iraq

Council on Foreign Relations

July 23, 2007
Prepared by: Robert McMahon

In at least one sign that U.S. and Iraqi timelines are in sync, lawmakers from both countries are planning a summer recess in early August. But generally, the struggles (Reuters) in the two legislative bodies highlight wide gulfs between Capitol Hill and Baghdad. In Washington, the Democratic-led Senate has tried to pressure Iraqis into compromises with vocal and legislative threats, like the troop withdrawal measure defeated last week by Republican opponents. In Baghdad, Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdish parliamentary factions were trying to overcome differences on a crucial benchmark set by the United States—a proposed law on managing oil revenue that is crucial to the country’s recovery (NYT)—but expressed resentment about being rushed by Washington (AP).

The Bush administration is trying both to persuade Iraqi legislators to keep on working and U.S. lawmakers to cut the Iraqis some slack past mid-September, when a major U.S. progress report on Iraq is due. The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, said during a June 19 Congressional briefing that Iraqi politicians are going to need more time to carry through reforms (USNews). There is little sign that appeased Democrats. The House, which has approved a troop withdrawal timeline, will not take up the Iraq spending portion of the defense appropriations bill until after the recess. And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has refused to allow nonbinding Republican measures that sought to modify the administration’s Iraq policy. The Los Angeles Times raises questions about this Democratic strategy, which it says has gained the support of just eight of 250 Republicans in the House and Senate.

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

Copyright 2007 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.