GAO Says Iraq Falls Short on Benchmarks

A forthcoming report says that, contrary to Junior Senator John Cornyn's statements last Sunday on This Week, a Government Accountability Office (we still have accountability in government?) found that the troop surge is not working. Iraq has only met three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for progress, and that the President's troop surge plan, supported by Cornyn, is not effective.

Here's Cornyn making sure that we don't push the Iraqis too hard: "But I don't think it's in our best interest to put so much pressure on the new Iraqi government that it absolutely collapses."

Instead, we are putting absolutely no pressure, while spending billions of dollars and thousands of lives to do what?


Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid:

“It is clear that every objective expert keeps providing the American public with the same facts: that the president’s flawed Iraq strategy is failing to deliver what it needs to — a political solution for Iraq. The forthcoming GAO report offers a clear assessment that a new direction in Iraq must begin immediately, before more American lives are lost and more taxpayer dollars wasted."