The Secret Iraq Report

Lee Hamilton and James Baker (yes, that James Baker) have co-chaired a special group that's been working for the past six months to figure out how to "fix" Iraq. Their statement so far? "The next three months are critical." I find that a little disheartening since we've been told repeatedly over the past three years that the next three months are critical -- with little result.

But probably the most telling piece of the related news article is this:

At a downtown Washington news conference, Hamilton and Baker declined to say what their assessment is of the situation in Iraq now or to indicate anything about their upcoming recommendations. They said recommendations won't be given to the government or made public until after the November election - to avoid politicizing them. They said they would not be more specific about when the findings might be released.

Two things strike me about that comment. First, if they're afraid of the report being politicized then things in Iraq must be pretty bad... or at least more so than this administration would have us believe.

Second, if the next three months are critical and their report contains the next steps for "fixing" things -- how productive will it be to wait until after November 7th to release the report? It reminds me of the old Abbott and Costello "Who's on first?" routine. The fun never ends with these people.

Update: Additional info from Kevin Drum.