Twenty Questions For Bush About Iraq

The Center for American Progress has produced 20 questions for President Bush regarding his Iraq policy. Here they are:

1. How does the Bush administration define precisely what it means for the
Iraqi security forces to “stand up?”

2. What incentives exist today for the Iraqi leadership to take greater
responsibility for its own affairs?

3. What’s the status of a new National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's
instability and the possibility of civil war?

4. Has “Operation Together Forward” in Baghdad achieved sufficient progress
in stabilizing Iraq’s capital?

5. What is the status of the efforts to defeat Al Qaeda in Iraq?

6. What is the Bush administration's cost-to-completion estimate for its
Iraq policy?

7. Which agency has primary responsibility for each of the action items
outlined in the Bush administration’s Iraq strategy?

8. What are the Bush administration’s contingency plans for helping address
the growing problem of internally displaced Iraqis?

9. What is the status of the efforts to disband militias that operate
independently from the Iraqi government?

10. Does the Bush administration stand by its original certification that
Iraq has not undermined the effort against terrorism?

11. What is the administration's plan for rebuilding the damage done to the
Army and Marines?

12. What is the plan to support and protect the Military Transition Teams
assisting Iraqi troops?

13. What are the Bush administration’s long-term plans for construction of
American military installations in Iraq?

14. What is the status of provincial reconstruction teams for Iraq
reconstruction and what have each of these teams achieved thus far?

15. What are the specific priority action items for diplomatic and
development assistance with Iraq's political transition and democratic
development?

16. What contingency plans does the Bush administration have in place if
Iraqi leaders decide to set up a system that decentralizes power?

17. What is the Bush administration’s strategy to stabilize northern Iraq,
which has seen cross-border strikes by Turkish and Iranian forces against
Kurdish rebel groups, such as the Kurdistan Workers Party, and what plans does
the Bush administration have to keep tensions from spilling over in
Kirkuk?

18. Why isn’t the administration rushing to field new technologies that can
protect our troops from RPGs, the second-most deadly weapon used by the Iraqi
insurgents?

19. What is the Bush administration’s plan to ensure that assistance
pledged by other international donors is delivered?

20. What is the status of the international compact for Iraq, similar to
the one formed for Afghanistan?

For more detail on each of these questions please refer to the article via this link.

These are important queries. The President and many Republicans seeking election in November are supporting the war and pledging to "stay the course." Unfortunately the Administration has no plan other than rhetoric, as these questions illustrate. As an informed voter it's up to you to ask your local, regional and statewide candidates these questions if they purport to support the President's policy.

If a Republican incumbent Senator or Congressperson can't answer these ask why they haven't required the answers from the White House. How can anyone propose to "stay the course" unless they've gotten answers to the above questions? It's essential for Congress to demand oversight and accountability. If your GOP incumbent does not have the answers to these questions ask why they feel they're qualified to be returned to office.