Lynn C. Woolsey: “last week the New York Times reported that Iraq is falling well short of the political progress they were supposed to…”

“last week the New York Times reported that Iraq is falling well short of the political progress they were supposed to have made by now. Still no constitutional reform. Still no local elections. Still no final action on a law governing distribution of oil revenues. Still no reversal of the de-Baathification laws. The Bush administration is now saying that their military escalation needs time to work and that these political goals will not be met until the end of the year. I think it is clear what is going on here. What we have is another tactic by the White House in an attempt to run out the clock until January of 2009 when they can hand over the reins and make Iraq look like someone else's problem. The President has said that the military commitment to Iraq is not open-ended; yet all evidence is to the contrary. The supporters of this war, a group whose numbers are dwindling by the day, tell us the next 6 months are critical. This really is the last chance for success. Time and time again, deadlines are established and not met, but there are no consequences, nor is there accountability. I am of the belief that the Iraqi Government won't get its act together until it is forced to govern on its own, until it is no longer propped up by the presence of more than 150,000 American soldiers. As it is now, as long as we continue with this military occupation, Iraqis have absolutely no incentive to push for democratic reform.”