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entitled 'Securing, Stabilizing, and Rebuilding Iraq: Iraqi Government 
Has not Met Most Legislative, Security, and Economic Benchmarks' which 
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Testimony: 

Before the Committee on Armed Services, U. S. Senate: 

United States Government Accountability Office: 

GAO: 

For Release on Delivery Expected at 9:00 a.m. EDT: 

Friday, September 7, 2007: 

Securing, Stabilizing, and Rebuilding Iraq: 

Iraqi Government Has Not Met Most Legislative, Security, and Economic 
Benchmarks: 

Statement of David M. Walker Comptroller General of the United States: 

GAO-07-1230T: 

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: 

I am pleased to appear today to discuss our report[Footnote 1] on 
whether or not the government of Iraq has met 18 benchmarks contained 
in the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq 
Accountability Appropriations Act of 2007[Footnote 2] (the Act). The 
Act requires GAO to report on the status of the achievement of these 
benchmarks. Consistent with GAO's core values and our desire to be fair 
and balanced, we also considered and used a "partially met" rating for 
some benchmarks. In comparison, the Act requires the administration to 
report on whether satisfactory progress is being made toward meeting 
the benchmarks. The benchmarks cover Iraqi government actions needed to 
advance reconciliation within Iraqi society, improve the security of 
the Iraqi population, provide essential services to the population, and 
promote economic well-being. 

To complete this work, we reviewed U.S. agency and Iraqi documents and 
interviewed officials from the Departments of Defense, State, and the 
Treasury; the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) and its subordinate 
commands; the Defense Intelligence Agency; the Central Intelligence 
Agency; the National Intelligence Council; and the United Nations. 
These officials included Ryan Crocker, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, and 
General David H. Petraeus, Commander of the Multi-National Force-Iraq. 
We made multiple visits to Iraq during 2006 and 2007, most recently 
from July 22 to August 1, 2007. Our analyses were enhanced by 
approximately 100 Iraq-related reports and testimonies that we have 
completed since May 2003. We conducted our review in accordance with 
generally accepted government auditing standards. 

Summary: 

In summary, we found: 

The benchmarks were derived from commitments first articulated by the 
Iraqi government in June 2006. 

The Iraqi government met 3, partially met 4, and did not meet 11 of its 
18 benchmarks. Overall, key legislation has not been passed, violence 
remains high, and it is unclear whether the Iraqi government will spend 
$10 billion in reconstruction funds. These results do not diminish the 
courageous efforts of coalition forces and progress that has been made 
in several areas, including Anbar Province. 

The Iraqi government met one of eight legislative benchmarks: the 
rights of minority political parties in Iraq's legislature are 
protected. The government has not enacted legislation on de- 
Ba'athification, oil revenue sharing, provincial elections, amnesty, 
and militia disarmament. 

It is unclear whether sectarian violence in Iraq has decreased--a key 
security benchmark--since it is difficult to measure whether the 
perpetrators' intents were sectarian in nature, and other measures of 
population security show differing trends. 

As the Congress considers the way forward in Iraq, it should balance 
the achievement of the 18 Iraqi benchmarks with military progress and 
with homeland security goals, foreign policy goals, and other goals of 
the United States. 

Origins of the Benchmarks: 

The benchmarks contained in the Act were derived from commitments 
articulated by the Iraqi government beginning in June 2006 and affirmed 
in subsequent statements by Prime Minister Maliki in September 2006 and 
January 2007 (see fig. 1). Iraq's commitments to these benchmarks were 
most recently stated in the May 2007 International Compact for Iraq. 

Figure 1: Origin of Iraqi Benchmarks: 

[See PDF for image] 

Source: GAO analysis of Department of State, Department of Defense, and 
Iraqi government data. 

[A] Iraq's Policy Committee on National Security agreed upon a set of 
political, security, and economic benchmarks and an associated timeline 
in September 2006. These were reaffirmed by the Presidency Council on 
October 16, 2006. 

[B] In December 2006 the Multi-National Force-Iraq and government of 
Iraq agreed to establish the Joint Security Stations. 

[End of figure] 

GAO Assessment of the 18 Benchmarks: 

As of August 30, 2007, the Iraqi government met 3, partially met 4, and 
did not meet 11 of its 18 benchmarks. Overall, key legislation has not 
been passed, violence remains high, and it is unclear whether the Iraqi 
government will spend $10 billion in reconstruction funds. 

Figure 2: GAO Assessment of the 18 Benchmarks: 

[See PDF for image] 

Source: GAO analysis of UN, U.S., and Iraqi data. 

[End of figure] 

Most Legislative Benchmarks Have Yet to Be Enacted and Implemented: 

The Iraqi government met one of eight legislative benchmarks: the 
rights of minority political parties in Iraq's legislature are 
protected. The government also partially met one benchmark --to enact 
and implement legislation on the formation of regions; this law was 
enacted in October 2006 but will not be implemented until April 2008. 
Six other legislative benchmarks have not been met. Specifically, a 
review committee has not completed work on important revisions to 
Iraq's constitution. Further, the government has not enacted 
legislation on de-Ba'athification, oil revenue sharing, provincial 
elections, amnesty, and militia disarmament. The administration's 
report cited progress in achieving some benchmarks but provided little 
information on what step in the legislative process each benchmark had 
reached. We provide that information below. 

Figure 3: Enactment and Implementation Status of Six Legislative 
Benchmarks: 

[See PDF for image] 

Source: GAO analysis of UN, U.S., and Iraqi data. 

Notes: 

[A] The Iraqi legislature is considering several competing drafts. 

[B] The Iraqi Constitution exempts the law on formation of regions from 
following the Presidency Council's ratification process that is set out 
in Article 138 of the Constitution. 

[C] The draft deals with broader federal versus provincial powers, 
according to the United Nations. 

[D] According to State, the Iraqi government may not need a law to set 
the election date, though to date this is unclear. 

[End of figure] 

Mixed Results in Achieving Security Benchmarks: 

Two of nine security benchmarks have been met. Specifically, Iraq's 
government has established various committees in support of the Baghdad 
security plan and established almost all of the planned Joint Security 
Stations in Baghdad. The government has partially met the benchmarks of 
providing three trained and ready brigades for Baghdad operations and 
eliminating safe havens for outlawed groups. Five other benchmarks have 
not been met. The government has not eliminated militia control of 
local security, eliminated political intervention in military 
operations, ensured even-handed enforcement of the law, increased army 
units capable of independent operations, and ensured that political 
authorities made no false accusations against security forces. It is 
unclear whether sectarian violence in Iraq has decreased--a key 
security benchmark--since it is difficult to measure perpetrators' 
intents, and various other measures of population security from 
different sources show differing trends. As displayed in figure 4, 
average daily attacks against civilians have remained unchanged from 
February to July 2007. 

Figure 4: Average Number of Daily, Enemy-Initiated Attacks against the 
Coalition, Iraqi Security Forces, and Civilians (May 2003-July 2007): 

[See PDF for image] 

Source: GAO analysis of DIA-reported Multi-National Force-Iraq data, 
July 2007. 

[End of figure] 

Comparison of GAO and Executive Branch Assessments: 

Public Law 110-28 requires GAO to report to Congress by September 1, 
2007,[Footnote 3] on whether or not the government of Iraq has met 18 
benchmarks contained in the Act, and the status of the achievement of 
these benchmarks. The Act requires the administration to report in July 
and September 2007 on whether satisfactory progress is being made 
toward meeting the benchmarks. As stated previously, we considered and 
used a "partially met" rating in several circumstances. Figure 5 
compares the two assessments. 

Figure 5: Comparison of GAO Assessment with Administration's July 2007 
Initial Benchmark Assessment Report: 

[See PDF for image] 

Source: GAO analysis of UN, U.S., and Iraqi data. 

[A] According to the U.S. State Department, conditions are not present 
for these benchmarks. 

[End of figure] 

Conclusions: 

As of August 30, 2007, the Iraqi government met 3, partially met 4, and 
had not met 11 of 18 legislative, security, and economic benchmarks. 
The Iraqi government has not fulfilled commitments it first made in 
June 2006 to advance legislative, security, and economic measures that 
would promote national reconciliation among Iraq's warring factions. Of 
particular concern is the lack of progress on de-Ba'athification 
legislation that could promote greater Sunni participation in the 
national government and comprehensive hydrocarbon legislation that 
would distribute Iraq's vast oil wealth. In late August, Iraq's senior 
Shi'a, Sunni Arab and Kurdish political leaders signed a Unity Accord 
signaling efforts to foster greater national reconciliation. The Accord 
covered draft legislation on de-Ba'thification reform and provincial 
powers laws, as well as setting up a mechanism to release some Sunni 
detainees being held without charges. However, the polarization of 
Iraq's major sects and ethnic groups and fighting among Sh'ia factions 
further diminishes the stability of Iraq's governing coalition and its 
potential to enact legislation needed for sectarian reconciliation. 

Reconciliation was also premised on a reduction in violence. While the 
Baghdad security plan was intended to reduce sectarian violence, it is 
unclear whether violence has been reduced. Measuring such violence may 
be difficult since the perpetrators' intents are not clearly known. 
Other measures, such as the number of enemy-initiated attacks, show 
that violence has remained high through July 2007. 

As the Congress considers the way forward in Iraq, it should balance 
the achievement of the 18 Iraqi benchmarks with military progress and 
homeland security, foreign policy, and other goals of the United 
States. Future administration reports on the benchmarks would be more 
useful to the Congress if they clearly depicted the status of each 
legislative benchmark, provided additional quantitative and qualitative 
information on violence from all relevant U.S. agencies, and specified 
the performance and loyalties of Iraqi security forces supporting 
coalition operations. 

Recommendations: 

In preparing future reports to Congress and to help increase 
transparency on progress made toward achieving the benchmarks, we 
recommend that: 

1. The Secretary of State provide information to the President that 
clearly specifies the status in drafting, enacting, and implementing 
Iraqi legislation; 

2. The Secretary of Defense and the heads of other appropriate agencies 
provide information to the President on trends in sectarian violence 
with appropriate caveats, as well as broader quantitative and 
qualitative measures of security; and: 

3. The Secretary of Defense and the heads of other appropriate 
agencies provide additional information on the operational readiness of 
Iraqi security forces supporting the Baghdad security plan, 
particularly information on their loyalty and willingness to help 
secure Baghdad. 

We provided drafts of the report accompanying this testimony to the 
relevant U.S. agencies for review and comment, which we incorporated as 
appropriate. We received written comments from the Departments of State 
and Defense and technical comments from the Central Intelligence Agency 
and National Intelligence Council, which are included in the report. 
State and DOD concurred with our recommendations but disagreed with our 
assessment of certain benchmarks. Although we analyzed classified data, 
including the August 2007 National Intelligence Estimate for Iraq, the 
testimony and report only contain unclassified information, as of 
August 30, 2007. We issued a classified report to supplement the 
information discussed in our report.[Footnote 4] 

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, this concludes my prepared 
statement. I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have. 

Contact and Staff Acknowledgements: 

If you or your staffs have any questions about this testimony, please 
contact me at (202) 512-5500 or Mr. Joseph A. Christoff, Director, 
International Affairs and Trade, at (202) 512-8979. Key contributors to 
this testimony include Stephen Lord, David Bruno, Howard Cott, Timothy 
Fairbanks, Mattias Fenton, Whitney Havens, Dorian Herring, Bruce 
Kutnick, Judith McCloskey, Tetsuo Miyabara, and Kathleen Monahan. 

In addition, Ashley Alley, Monica Brym, Lessie Burke-Johnson, Joe 
Carney, Miriam Carroll, Debbie Chung, Thomas Costa, Lynn Cothern, 
Aniruddha Dasgupta, Martin de Alteriis, Etana Finkler, Muriel Forster, 
Patrick Hickey, Michael Jenkins, Sona Kalapura, Jeremy Latimer, Mary 
Moutsos, Sidney Schwartz, Jena Sinkfield, Audrey Solis, Cynthia Taylor, 
and Christina Werth provided technical assistance. 

Footnotes: 

[1] GAO, Iraqi Government Has Not Met Most Legislative, Security, and 
Economic Benchmarks (GAO-07-1195) (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 4, 2007). 

[2] Section 1314 of P.L. 110-28. 

[3] GAO provided this report to Congress on September 4, 2007, the 
first business day following September 1, 2007. 

[4] GAO-07-1223C.

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