by James Glaser
November 16, 2006

Washington, Iraq, the American Soldiers and Marines in Iraq, their loved ones, the American people, heck maybe the whole world are waiting for some report from something called The Iraq Study Group. Everyone is hoping that this independent group of Americans can come up with a way of ending George Bush's War in Iraq.

All these people are waiting, but the Iraq Study Group has nothing to do with our government. It wasn't called to order by George Bush. It does have some support in Congress, but it wasn't ordered by Congress either.

According to the United States institute for Peace, the Members of the Iraq Study Group are:

The ISG principals are a bipartisan group of senior individuals who have had distinguished careers in public service. Its co-chairs are former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III (R) and former chairman of the House International Relations Committee Lee Hamilton (D).

The other ISG members are:

• Lawrence S. Eagleburger, former U.S. Secretary of State;
  
• Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., Senior Managing Director, Lazard, Freres & Co. LLC;
  
• Edwin Meese, III, former U.S. Attorney General;
  
• Sandra Day O'Connor, former U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice;
  
• Leon E. Panetta, former White House Chief of Staff;
  
• William J. Perry, former U.S. Secretary of Defense;
  
• Charles S. Robb, former U.S. Senator;
  
• Alan K. Simpson, former U.S. Senator.

I would have to guess that all of these people are fine upstanding Americans, but I wouldn't think of any of them as experts on the Middle East or on military warfare.

The Democrats are sitting around saying they are waiting for Baker's report. The White House is still talking about victory, and the Republicans are trying to figure how they can turn things around by the 2008 presidential election.

Mean while, another six American troops were killed in Iraq on Wednesday.

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