Inglis: Iraq supplemental benchmarks add accountability

U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC) Friday hailed the 18 benchmarks for the Iraqi government and reporting requirements passed by the House and Senate as a major step forward to accountability and, hopefully, to stability in Iraq.

“The American people deserve to know that the American commitment of our sons and daughters is being matched by the Iraqis’ commitment to establishing a credible federal government,” Inglis said. “This is a clear step toward accountability and it’s without the misstep of a timetable for withdrawal.”

Inglis said the steps forward for progress in Iraq have been held in wide agreement by all sides for some time. But until the supplemental funding bill passed with the benchmarks, there have been no rewards for success or consequences for failure.

“Now, if the Iraq government does not make progress, they know that they could lose our help on some reconstruction projects,” Inglis said.

“The steps necessary for a credible government have been apparent for some time. Now the Iraqi Parliament is on notice to proceed without delay.”

Inglis recently returned from a third visit to Iraq and said he is pleased to see the pressure and expectations for success being shouldered by the Iraqi government, not merely U.S. military leaders and their troops.

“We know that our troops will do whatever we ask of them,” he said. “They’re counting on us as civilian leaders to define their mission clearly and to articulate our expectations of the Iraqi leadership. Accountability works.”

The full list of benchmarks and reporting requirements follow.

THE IRAQI GOVERNMENT’S BENCHMARKS:

The United States strategy in Iraq, hereafter, shall be conditioned on the Iraqi government meeting benchmarks, including:

1) Forming a Constitutional Review Committee and then completing the constitutional review.

2) Enacting and implementing legislation on de-Baathification.

3) Enacting and implementing legislation to ensure the equitable distribution of hydrocarbon resources of the people of Iraq without regard to the sect or ethnicity of recipients, and enacting and implementing legislation to ensure that the energy resources of Iraq benefit Sunni Arabs, Shia Arabs, Kurds, and other Iraqi citizens in an equitable manner.

4) Enacting and implementing legislation on procedures to form semi-autonomous regions.

5) Enacting and implementing legislation establishing an Independent High Electoral Commission, provincial elections law, provincial council authorities, and a date for provincial elections.

6) Enacting and implementing legislation addressing amnesty.

7) Enacting and implementing legislation establishing a strong militia disarmament program to ensure that such security forces are accountable only to the central government and loyal to the Constitution of Iraq.

8) Establishing supporting political, media, economic, and services committees in support of the Baghdad Security Plan.

9) Providing three trained and ready Iraqi brigades to support Baghdad operations.

10) Providing Iraqi commanders with all authorities to execute this plan and to make tactical and operational decisions, in consultation with U.S commanders, without political intervention, to include the authority to pursue all extremists, including Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias.

11) Ensuring that the Iraqi Security Forces are providing even handed enforcement of the law.

12) Ensuring that, according to President Bush, Prime Minister Maliki said ‘‘the Baghdad security plan will not provide a safe haven for any outlaws, regardless of [their] sectarian or political affiliation’’.

13) Reducing the level of sectarian violence in Iraq and eliminating militia control of local security.

14) Establishing all of the planned joint security stations in neighborhoods across Baghdad.

15) Increasing the number of Iraqi security forces units capable of operating independently.

16) Ensuring that the rights of minority political parties in the Iraqi legislature are protected.

17) Allocating and spending $10 billion in Iraqi revenues for reconstruction projects, including delivery of essential services, on an equitable basis.

18) Ensuring that Iraq’s political authorities are not undermining or making false accusations against members of the Iraqi Security Forces.

Reporting Requirements:

The President shall submit reports to Congress on how the sovereign Government of Iraq is, or is not, achieving progress towards accomplishing the aforementioned benchmarks, and shall advise the Congress on how that assessment requires, or does not require, changes to the strategy announced on January 10, 2007.

(A) The President shall submit an initial report, in classified and unclassified format, to the Congress, not later than July 15, 2007, assessing the status of each of the specific benchmarks established above, and declaring, in his judgment, whether satisfactory progress toward meeting these benchmarks is, or is not, being achieved.

(B) The President, having consulted with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Commander, Multi-National Forces- Iraq, the United States Ambassador to Iraq, and the Commander of U.S. Central Command, will prepare the report and submit the report to Congress.

(C) If the President’s assessment of any of the specific benchmarks established above is unsatisfactory, the President shall include in that report a description of such revisions to the political, economic, regional, and military components of the strategy, as announced by the President on January 10, 2007. In addition, the President shall include in the report, the advisability of implementing such aspects of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, as he deems appropriate.

(D) The President shall submit a second report to the Congress, not later than Sep17, 2007, following the same procedures and criteria outlined above.

Testimony Before Congress:

Prior to the submission of the President’s second report on September 15, 2007, and at a time to be agreed upon by the leadership of the Congress and the Administration, the United States Ambassador to Iraq and the Commander, Multi-National Forces Iraq (Gen. David Petraeus) will be made available to testify in open and closed sessions before the relevant committees of the Congress.

Consequences for Iraqi Non-compliance:

No funds appropriated or otherwise made available for the ‘‘Economic Support Fund’’ and available for Iraq may be obligated or expended unless and until the President of the United States certifies in the [July 15, 2007] report and makes a further certification in the [September 15,2007] report that Iraq is making progress on each of the benchmarks set forth above.

Waiver Authority

The President may waive the limitation requirements if he submits to Congress a written certification setting forth a detailed justification for the waiver, which shall include a detailed report describing the actions being taken by the United States to bring the Iraqi government into compliance with the benchmarks set forth. The certification shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.

Redeployment of U.S. Forces from Iraq:

The President of the United States, in respecting the sovereign rights of the nation of Iraq, shall direct the orderly redeployment of elements of U.S. forces from Iraq, if the components of the Iraqi government, acting in strict accordance with their respective powers given by the Iraqi Constitution, reach a consensus as recited in a resolution, directing a redeployment of U.S. forces.

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