Iraq Study Group Report

The Iraq Study Group (ISG), also known as the Baker-Hamilton Commission, or simply the Baker Commission, was a ten-person bipartisan panel appointed on March 15, 2006, by the United States Congress, that was charged with assessing the situation in Iraq and the US-led Iraq War and making policy recommendations. It was first proposed by Virginia Republican Representative Frank Wolf.

The Iraq Study Group was facilitated by the United States Institute of Peace, who released the Iraq Study Group's final report on their Website on December 6, 2006.

The ISG was led by co-chairs James Baker, a former Secretary of State (Republican) and Lee Hamilton (Democrat), a former U.S. Representative and the vice chair of the 9/11 Commission. It was also composed of four additional Republicans and four additional Democrats.

President Bush said he would not accept every recommendation by the ISG panel but promised that he would take the report seriously. President Bush is expected to wait for three other studies from the Pentagon, the US State Department and the National Security Council before charting the new course on Iraq. On US foreign policy, President Bush warned that he would only talk to Iran if it suspended uranium enrichment and bring Syria on board if it stops funding the insurgency in Lebanon, extends support to the Lebanese government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and provides economic help to Iraq.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani called the group's conclusions "very dangerous" to Iraq's sovereignty and constitution, according to CNN. "As a whole, I reject this report," Talabani said.

** Excerpts taken from Wikipedia

The full report is available here from the United States Institute of Peace