A Karl Rove Solution for Iraq?

"'We have an opportunity in the next couple of weeks to truly change our Iraq strategy,' said Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). 'For those Senate Republicans who are saying the right things on Iraq, they must put their words into action by voting with us to change course and responsibly end this war.'"

Benchmark Watch

Anne Flaherty and Anne Gearan write for the Associated Press: "A progress report on Iraq will conclude that the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad has not met any of its targets for political, economic and other reforms, speeding up the Bush administration's reckoning on what to do next, a U.S. official said Monday."

CNN's Michael Ware explains to Anderson Cooper why none of the benchmarks is being met.

"MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Because, to be honest, it's not really in the interests of the main power players here in Iraq to meet them.

"These are American agendas, American benchmarks. These aren't the benchmarks that the factions within the Iraqi government really care about. What they care about is getting their hands on their own security forces and setting them loose as they see fit.

"And, don't forget, a lot of these benchmarks strike at the deepest, most heartfelt divisions politically and in terms of the sectarian divide that exist in this country. None of them are easy fixes. And in none of them is it really in the interests of those who hold power to meet them. They just want to keep their power -- Anderson.

"COOPER: So, essentially, you're saying they don't see themselves as part of a larger Iraq. They don't see themselves as a ruling of -- all the people of Iraq, as we think about a democracy. They still see themselves as factions, and they are trying to hold on to turf and power.

"WARE: Yes, absolutely. I mean, the concept of a national unity government, as the Bush administration calls this thing that they describe as the Iraqi government, is laughed at, even by some of the senior members of this government itself."

Investigative reporter Robert Dreyfuss, writing on NiemanWatchdog.org (where I serve as deputy editor), raises similar points about a tragic misunderstanding of Iraqi domestic politics, with U.S. supporting all the wrong factions. Furthermore, he asks: "Can any government or political party that has American support succeed in Iraq? Or is American support effectively the kiss of death for an Iraqi politician? Corrupt and venal Iraqi leaders, squatting in bunkers in the Green Zone, might welcome American support and American money -- but do they have any 'street cred' whatsoever?"

Be Very Afraid

The other pincer in Rove's signature political approach is to spread fear. So it should come as no great surprise that administration mouthpieces are stepping up the scary rhetoric.

John F. Burns and Alissa J. Rubin write in the New York Times: "As the Senate prepares to begin a new debate this week on proposals for a withdrawal from Iraq, the United States ambassador and the Iraqi foreign minister are warning that the departure of American troops could lead to sharply increased violence, the deaths of thousands and a regional conflict that could draw in Iraq's neighbors. . . .

"Mr. Crocker's remarks echoed warnings that have been made for months by President Bush and other administration officials. But Mr. Crocker, a career diplomat, seemed eager to emphasize that the report he and Gen. David H. Petraeus are to make in September -- an event Mr. Bush and his war critics have presented as a watershed moment -- would represent their professional judgment, unburdened by any reflex to back administration policy. . . .