Iraq Study Group Reaction

Train Iraqis quicker. Talk to your enemies. Get out by 2008.

Oversimplified, those are the big recommendations contained in today's highly awaited Iraq Study Group report.

The reaction so far from Missouri's Congressional delegation about the group's findings are mixed. Some are more subtle than others.

Rep. Blunt

Seventh District Congressman Roy Blunt said he appreciated the work of the group, but declined to endorse any of its proposals.

"I appreciate the Iraq Study Group's efforts to take a hard look at our mission in post-Saddam Iraq," Blunt said in a statement to KY3 News. "The Iraq Study Group agreed that arbitrary troop withdrawals from Iraq would only serve to strengthen the terrorists. I am looking forward to working with the president and the new secretary of defense on any of the recommendations that are a sensible alternative to current policy, as we all continue to work toward a stable and independent Iraq."

Sen. Bond

Senator Kit Bond said the report confirms that Iraq remains the central front in the war on terror. Bond rejected talks with Syria or Iran unless conditions were met. He, too, didn't offer showering praise.

“The report confirms what we have known for some time: that the situation in Iraq right now is a difficult one and we need to be flexible as we move forward. Iraq is a key element to the war on terror and we cannot afford to walk away," Bond said in a statement to KY3 News.

“While the number of troops and how they are deployed is being continually reviewed, in my view the recommendations in the report should be subject to what happens on the ground," he added.

“I cannot see us talking to Syria or Iran unless they are willing to stop supplying fighters and weapons to make the situation in Iraq worse. The President has said that is the starting condition. To ask them to help solve the problem when they are creating it would seem to me to put the cart before the horse," Missouri's senior Senator said.

“The violence between Shia and Sunni has to end if there is to be a civil society. Iraqis have to learn to live together and America must remain committed to helping them stand on their own.”


Rep. Emerson

Rep. Jo Ann Emerson seemed a bit more enthusiastic about the report, calling the findings "extremely important."

"This document is extremely important to reshape our understanding of the war in Iraq, to bring a heavy diplomatic presence to the problems in Iraq and throughout the Middle East, and to lay out objectives that can be accomplished in order to bring our troops home. The new Pentagon leadership must also use their mandate to responsibly transfer the tasks currently being performed by American men and women in uniform to their Iraqi counterparts," Emerson said in a statement provided to KY3 News. "Our military will continue to have my full support in Congress, and I will continue to insist that they be provided with the equipment they require to do their jobs, a key point I also am glad was raised by the Iraq Study Group."

Sen.-elect McCaskill

Predictably on the other side, U.S. Senator-elect Claire McCaskill fully praised the report.

"Today’s report by the bi-partisan Iraq Study Group is encouraging. This report embraces the changes in policy that I have been advocating for the last six months. We now have a strong blueprint for a way to find common ground and make positive progress out of the mess in Iraq," McCaskill said in a statement.