IRAQ STUDY GROUP REPORT (VIDEO)

Iraq Study Group Press Conference to Release Report, FULL STREAMING VIDEO. The Iraq Study Group will hold a press conference to release its report. The group's study is seen as the first major bipartisan effort to rethink military and political options in Iraq. The panel is headed by former Secretary of State James Baker & former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-IN)12/6/2006: WASHINGTON, DC: 45 min

(editors note study group server may be swamped, if so try backup server) Download the report, PDF - 1.3MB. C-SPAN SERVER, In light of the importance of Iraq to United States interests and the future of the region, there is urgent need for a bipartisan, forward-looking assessment of the situation in Iraq.

At the urging of Congress, the United States Institute of Peace is facilitating the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, led by co-chairs James A. Baker, III, former secretary of state and honorary chairman of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, and Lee H. Hamilton, former congressman and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Iraq Study Group will conduct a forward-looking, independent assessment of the current and prospective situation on the ground in Iraq, its impact on the surrounding region, and consequences for U.S. interests.

The United States Institute of Peace is facilitating the group with the support of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Center for the Study of the Presidency (CSP), and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.

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President Receives Iraq Study Group Report (VIDEO)

President Bush Receives Report from the Iraq Study Group, FULL STREAMING VIDEO, In Focus: Renewal in Iraq , The Cabinet Room, 7:58 A.M. EST.

THE PRESIDENT: I just received the Iraq Study Group report, prepared by a distinguished panel of our fellow citizens.

I want to thank James Baker and Lee Hamilton and the panel members for spending a lot of time on this really difficult issue. And I thank you for coming into the White House today to give me a copy of this report.

I told the members that this report, called "The Way Forward," will be taken very seriously by this administration.

This report gives a very tough assessment of the situation in Iraq. It is a report that brings some really very interesting proposals, and we will take every proposal seriously and we will act in a timely fashion.

The commission is headed up to Congress, and I urge the members of Congress to take this report seriously. While they won't agree with every proposal -- and we probably won't agree with every proposal -- it, nevertheless, is an opportunity to come together and to work together on this important issue.

The country, in my judgment, is tired of pure political bickering that happens in Washington, and they understand that on this important issue of war and peace, it is best for our country to work together. And I understand how difficult that is, but this report will give us all an opportunity to find common ground, for the good of the country -- not for the good of the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, but for the good of the country.

We can achieve long-lasting peace for this country, and it requires tough work. It also requires a strategy that will be effective. And we've got men and women of both political parties around this table who spent a lot of time thinking about the way forward in Iraq, and the way forward in the Middle East, and I can't thank them enough for your time. You could be doing a lot of other things, you could have had a lot more simple life than to allow your government to call you back into service. But you did allow us to call you back into service, and you made a vital contribution to the country. Our fellow citizens have got to know that it is possible for people of goodwill to come together to help make recommendations on how to deal with a very serious situation.

And we applaud your work. We take it very seriously, and we'll act on it in a timely fashion. Thank you very much.

END 8:01 A.M. EST, For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary December 6, 2006

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