Iraq Study Group report released

You can read the entire thing at this link. Here's a couple reactions:

Representative Jay Inslee:

"It is refreshing to see a report on Iraq that is not through rose-colored glasses, but this is not enough. We must declare in clear and certain terms that we're going to start bringing our sons and daughters home now. Otherwise, Shiites and Sunnis won't have the incentive necessary to forge political compromises that are necessary to form a real government.

It's time for our troops to stop fighting while the Shiites and Sunnis squabble over oil revenue. If the factions don't reach a deal on oil, we could be in Iraq for 50 years and our effort wouldn't ultimately work."

And incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

"The bipartisan Iraq Study Group has concluded that the President's Iraq policy has failed and must be changed. As the November elections clearly demonstrated, that is an assessment shared by the American people.

Months ago, House and Senate Democratic leaders suggested to the President that he implement one of the Study Group's chief recommendations - to change the primary mission of U.S. troops in Iraq from combat to training and support, which would enable the redeployment of U.S. forces to begin. Now that the Study Group has endorsed this proposal, I hope that the President will recognize that he must take our policy in Iraq in a new direction.

If the President is serious about the need for change in Iraq, he will find Democrats ready to work with him in a bipartisan fashion to find a way to end the war as quickly as possible. We are committed to ensuring that the ideas of the Iraq Study Group, as well as the ideas of other thoughtful people inside and outside of government, are given full consideration in that process."

It's a harsh and realistic assessment of the administration's failed policies. It echoes much of what progressives have been saying for years. Among the findings:

• The situation is bleak - or as the report says, it's "grave and deteriorating",
• The U.S. is losing its ability to influence what's happening inside of Iraq
• The actual level of violence in Iraq is significantly underreported
• U.S. intelligence does not clearly understand the warring factions or the civil war. This disconnect is a problem.
  
• Diplomacy and a dialogue are needed if stability is to ever become a reality
• Most U.S. forces now in Iraq should be withdrawn over the next 12 month

Bush is going to be under a tremendous amount of pressure now to give up his stubborn, divisive rhetoric and accept the advice from not only this report, but also other experts who have been saying this for years. Not to mention that this is a pretty bitter pill for Bush's blind and loyal supporters to swallow.