NPR: We're a Little Fuzzy on This Whole Benchmarks Thing

We're a Little Fuzzy on This Whole Benchmarks Thing

If it appears that Pentagon and administration officials start to mumble a lot and look at the ceiling or down at their shoes whenever they talk about benchmarks for Iraq, that could be because they want it that way. The Christian Science Monitor reports that "The Defense Department has allowed the public's understanding of the benchmarks to remain murky, offering up little in the way of specifics when it comes to how the surge will actually be assessed come September."

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill, particularly Democrats, want to define benchmarks with specific dates and "measureables." But the military and White House, judging by their responses to questions about benchmarks, seem to be trying to keep them as vague as possible.

Military experts see keeping benchmarks broad as a way for President Bush to portray the current surge operation as a victory. The Monitor reports:

All of this suggests that the administration is not prepared to dole out any tough love to the Iraqi government anytime soon, says Paul Eaton, a retired Army two-star general who most recently led the US command in Iraq that trained Iraqi forces. Mr. Eaton has been very critical of the administration, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and the way in which President Bush has executed the war. He believes the US won't significantly withdraw forces until Mr. Bush leaves office in January 2009.

"This undisciplined government cannot hope to provide discipline to another government and that is the basis of our problem," Eaton says. "They will not impose discipline."

12:51 PM ET | 05- 8-2007 | permalink

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