DOCUMENT
Recommendations of
the Iraq Study Group
DECEMBER6, 2006II
THE WAY FORWARD—A NEW APPROACHProgress in Iraq is still possible if new approaches are taken promptly by Iraq, the
United States, and other countries that have a stake in the Middle East.
To attain the goals we have outlined, changes in course must be made both out-
side and inside Iraq. Our report offers a comprehensive strategy to build regional and
international support for stability in Iraq, as it encourages the Iraqi people to assume
control of their own destiny. It offers a responsible transition.
Externally, the United States should immediately begin to employ all elements of
American power to construct a regional mechanism that can support, rather than
retard, progress in Iraq. Internally, the Iraqi government must take the steps required
to achieve national reconciliation, reduce violence, and improve the daily lives of Iraqis.
Efforts to implement these external and internal strategies must begin now and must
be undertaken in concert with one another.
This responsible transition can allow for a reduction in the U.S. presence in Iraq
over time.
A. THE EXTERNAL APPROACH:
BUILDING AN INTERNATIONAL CONSENSUSThe United States must build a new international consensus for stability in Iraq and
the region.
In order to foster such consensus, the United States should embark on a robust
diplomatic effort to establish an international support structure intended to stabilize
Iraq and ease tensions in other countries in the region. This support structure should
include every country that has an interest in averting a chaotic Iraq, including all of
Iraq’s neighbors—Iran and Syria among them. Despite the well-known differences
between many of these countries, they all share an interest in avoiding the horrific
consequences that would flow from a chaotic Iraq, particularly a humanitarian catas-
trophe and regional destabilization.
A reinvigorated diplomatic effort is required because it is clear that the Iraqi govern-
ment cannot succeed in governing, defending, and sustaining itself by relying on U.S. mil-
itary and economic support alone. Nor can the Iraqi government succeed by relying only
on U.S. military support in conjunction with Iraqi military and police capabilities. Some
states have been withholding commitments they could make to support Iraq’s stabilization
and reconstruction. Some states have been actively undermining stability in Iraq. To
achieve a political solution within Iraq, a broader international support structure is needed.
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