John Kerry is on another media blitz today, discussing the release of the Iraq Study Group report on Iraq. Today the bi-partisan Study Group panel said, that the “conditions in Iraq are “grave and deteriorating,” with the prospect that a “slide toward chaos” could topple the U.S.-backed government and trigger a regional war unless the United States changes course and seeks a broader diplomatic and political solution involving all of Iraq’s neighbors.”

In what amounts to the most extensive independent assessment of the nearly four-year-old conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 2,800 Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis, the Iraq Study Group bluntly warns that “current U.S. policy is not working.” Citing rising violence and the Iraqi government’s failure to advance national reconciliation, the panel paints a grim picture of a nation that Bush has repeatedly vowed to transform into a beacon of freedom and democracy in the Middle East.

John Kerry discussed the panel’s report earlier today on CNN’s “American Morning.” For our readers who have followed Kerry position on Iraq including his speeches and OP/ED’s over the past couple of years and various debates on the Senate floor, it’s clear that the Iraq Study Group report recommends much of what Kerry has been calling for, for some time now (see links below transcript).

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:

The transcript is as follows:

O’BRIEN: Former Secretary of State James Baker, former Congressman Lee Hamilton, and the eight members of their blue ribbon panel, briefing the president as we speak. It is a bipartisan group, but will reaction to their findings be bipartisan? With a view from the Democratic side of the aisle we turn now to Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.

Senator Kerry, good to have you with us.

KERRY: Good morning.

O’BRIEN: Timetables, supposedly not in this particular report, no specific deadlines for withdrawal. You would suggest that’s a good idea?

KERRY: I do. I believe it is. But I think they are about as close as you can come without getting into direct confrontation with the president. The fact is they are saying that most of the combat troops ought to be out by next year. General Caldwell –

O’BRIEN: So, is this a timetable?

KERRY: I believe that is a timetable. I also believe there is a timetable for the shift of responsibility to the Iraqis, which is what we wanted. General Caldwell — that’s on the front page of today’s newspapers — so I think it’s moving in a very important direction. And the key is for the president to embrace that and to recognize the importance of it.

O’BRIEN: Is it realistic to think about the Iraqis really taking substantive control over the security situation in Iraq soon?

KERRY: Sure.

O’BRIEN: How?

KERRY: By taking control. I mean, this is a country that fought a 10-year war with Iran, lost a million people in the process of that. These are not people who are incapable of taking over their security. But as long as we have been the security blanket, they have had no incentive to do it. And the real issue, ultimately, is diffusing the reason that it is insecure. That requires the political settlement.

And the political settlement is at the center of this. Mr. Maliki has now called for a regional conference, something we’ve been pushing for a long time. I hope the president will embrace that, support that and help facilitate it.

O’BRIEN: This report has a lot in it about diplomacy, what we’ve heard leak out. Is there a military solution left at all in Iraq?

KERRY: No. There never was a military solution and there isn’t a military solution today. This is the key. The key is to resolve the differences between the Sunni and the Shia, and the stakes that they have in whatever shape Iraq will take. That will require diplomacy.

And I hope the administration will move now to a very robust, very engaged diplomacy. Not just on the subject of Iraq itself, but of the Middle East, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, all of those have to be part of the puzzle.

O’BRIEN: Let’s get back to the notion of stability and whether the Iraqis can do this on their own. Silvestre Reyes, who is the incoming Democrat, who will be on the Intelligence Committee, on the House side. He said this to “Newsweek” yesterday. He said this, “We have to consider the need for additional troops to be in Iraq, to take out the militias and to stabilize Iraq. We certainly can’t leave Iraq , and run the risk that it becomes like Afghanistan.” Is Iraq headed down that road toward an Afghanistan?

KERRY: It’s in a very dangerous situation. Now Iraq is worse than Afghanistan today.

O’BRIEN: Right. So should more troops be sent then, to try to stabilize this?

KERRY: No. I believe that there’s an adequate number of troops. They have already put an additional 15,000 troops into Baghdad. The key is the Iraqi troops, the Iraqi military taking over that responsibility for themselves. Today there are only three brigades of some 10 that are taking a lead. Have you to shift the responsibility more to the Iraqis.

But more importantly, I come back to this. You know, you can keep adding troops and adding troops and playing the game of the military. That’s not where the solution is. The solution is by shifting the responsibility politically. And you have to do that through a political solution. The only way I know of to get there is by getting around the table and resolving the real stakes for the different warring factions.

O’BRIEN: That won’t be easy to do. Let’s shift gears here, briefly.

KERRY: Not easy to do. But it’s the most essential ingredient, and it’s been the most missing ingredient. That’s why I’ve always thought have to set a date, because it compels people to be engaged and to deal with the reality down the road. I think the Baker commission is coming as close as you can come to doing that.

O’BRIEN: Let’s talk politics for just a movement. You were sidelined by your party after the joke, the stuck in Iraq.

KERRY: I was sidelined by myself, as I thought it was the best thing to do.

O’BRIEN: October 30th, in advance of the election. Was that a fatal blow to your hopes for another presidential campaign?

KERRY: I think it would be ridiculous to think that. I think what’s important is leadership and moving ahead on the issues that are important to the country. Look, I misplaced one word in a sentence. The president misplaced an entire policy on a war, and that’s what I’ve been talking about, and that’s what I intend to continue to fight on.

O’BRIEN: Are you running?

KERRY: I’ve made no decision at all. And I think it’s much too premature. I think the American people made a change in November, to ask us to get to the business of this country right now. And I think the politics can wait.

O’BRIEN: Senator John Kerry, thanks for your time.

KERRY: Thanks. Good to be with you.

Here’s some pertinent links to Kerry’s position on Iraq that the Dem Daily has compiled in the past year and half:

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