Iraq government near collapse, secret report says
BY JAMES GORDON MEEK
N.Y. DAILY NEWS
WASHINGTON - Lawmakers returning here this week got hit with more bad news about Iraq in a confidential report that says the fragile democracy is "collapsing," the Daily News has learned.
The boycott of the government by certain Shiite and Kurdish political blocs has left Iraq's leadership hanging by a thread, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service.
The report by CRS, Congress' research and analysis arm, was completed Aug. 15 for the House and Senate.
"My assessment is that because of the number and breadth of parties boycotting the cabinet, the Iraqi government is in essential collapse," Kenneth Katzman, the author of the report, said. "That argues against any real prospects for political reconciliation."
Without a political infrastructure in Iraq, any military progress would be short-lived, he added.
Katzman, who grew up in Long Island, also challenged the success of the Baghdad Security Plan, known as the troop "surge," which President Bush claims is working.
"I would even question the military progress," he said.
Many senior State Department officials in Iraq believe a political solution to the war is now "hopeless," according to a top diplomat.
(Continued here.)
N.Y. DAILY NEWS
WASHINGTON - Lawmakers returning here this week got hit with more bad news about Iraq in a confidential report that says the fragile democracy is "collapsing," the Daily News has learned.
The boycott of the government by certain Shiite and Kurdish political blocs has left Iraq's leadership hanging by a thread, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service.
The report by CRS, Congress' research and analysis arm, was completed Aug. 15 for the House and Senate.
"My assessment is that because of the number and breadth of parties boycotting the cabinet, the Iraqi government is in essential collapse," Kenneth Katzman, the author of the report, said. "That argues against any real prospects for political reconciliation."
Without a political infrastructure in Iraq, any military progress would be short-lived, he added.
Katzman, who grew up in Long Island, also challenged the success of the Baghdad Security Plan, known as the troop "surge," which President Bush claims is working.
"I would even question the military progress," he said.
Many senior State Department officials in Iraq believe a political solution to the war is now "hopeless," according to a top diplomat.
(Continued here.)
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