John Kerry to Hold Hearing Today on Final GAO Iraq Report on Benchmarks
by Pamela LeaveyPolitico reports today that as Congress returns, “the main arena in the domestic battle over the Iraq war will switch from living rooms to hearing rooms.”
Democrats hoping to impose a change of course on the administration will have an early public relations advantage this week.
Hearings Tuesday and Wednesday will highlight a General Accounting Office report saying that the Iraqi gov-ernment has failed to meet most of the 18 benchmarks set by Congress to measure progress toward security and stability.
Politico did not note the various hearings, but The Democratic Daily has learned that Senator John Kerry will chair a Foreign Relations Committee hearing today on the GAO Iraq report on benchmarks. The hearing will assess whether the escalation of troops in Iraq is an effective policy toward building security in the region.
A draft of most recent GAO Report, released last Thursday, signaled that the Iraqi government has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress. The final version of that report is set to be released today and will be discussed at the hearing. The hearing, scheduled for 2:00 p.m., will also examine the ongoing situation in Iraq and the effectiveness of the President’s war policy. The Honorable David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, U.S. Government Accountability Office will testify at the hearing.
UPDATE: John Kerry’s Opening Statement on GAO Iraq Benchmarks Report Hearing
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The August vacation is what is going to really hurt the Dems from here on out. They just didn’t get enough work done at the right time. In addition, they allowed Bush to monopolize the media, and, thus, to control the agenda. He’s coming out the gate at full speed on his issues, and the Dems are mostly going to end up just standing there like deer in the headlights. The SCHIP should have already been vetoed by now, and we should be well along on vetoing the budget bills. One thing that can really set the Bush agenda back right now is for him to be seen as the sticking point. We really should be on the edge of a government shut down for lack of money, which would be held strongly against Republicans. Instead, Bush has already started the process of both pushing for an extra $50 billion for Iraq, and pushing for support for hostilities against Iran. How do you play catch up in a game like that starting from a dead stop, with sleep in your eyes.
And it ceratinly looks, as inexplicable as it is, like the media is all prepared to give Bush the same kid gloves treatment that his white trash crowd have had going for them from day one. Bush just landed Air Force One in Al Anbar province, Iraq, and there was nary a mention in the reporting of this story about what that says about our intention of ever leaving there. A 747 takes thousands of feet more run way than standard Air Force supply or combat aircraft. I mean like maybe TRIPLE the runway. What the hell are we doing building international class landing facilities in the middle of a combat zone in the middle of a desert? It was in front of the cameras and no one even looked at it.
Yeah, I’d say that the Dems are in for a long one unless they finally stop standing around with their hands in their pockets. (But, my, don’t all of those tans look just real nice?)