The Skimmer

Securing, Stabilizing, and Rebuilding Iraq

By the U.S. Government Accountability Office; 89 pages

The mildly titled June 23 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a glass-half-empty study of the vexations that continue to hamper U.S. efforts in Iraq as the war enters its sixth summer. While the GAO doesn't contradict a Pentagon report that indicates violence in Iraq has dropped significantly, it claims the improvement is based on a rickety foundation provided by the now slowing U.S. troop surge, a creaky cease-fire with Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and a U.S.-led effort to recruit former insurgents for policing--not on any...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!