WASHINGTON, DC – U. S. Senator Pat Roberts, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and a key member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, today issued the following statement regarding the Iraq Study Group’s (ISG) report:

"It is my hope that the bipartisan report by five leading and respected Republicans and Democrats can be a catalyst for Congress to come together and, despite strong differences, end the partisanship that has resulted on Iraq, our national security and intelligence," Roberts said.

"If the Iraq Study Group can agree on three major and flexible policy shifts in Iraq and 79 specific recommendations, the hope is the Congress and the Administration can do the same."

There were three major recommended changes in current Iraq policy:

• Reduce the number of U.S. combat troops while embedding U.S. forces with their Iraqi counterparts in a training capacity.
• Establish conditions for continued support.
• Create a regional diplomatic effort throughout the Gulf States including Syria and Iran.

"While the intent of these policy changes is positive, there should be no illusion that conditions in Iraq could very well threaten their feasibility," Senator Roberts said. "These goals are based on conditions on the ground and within the government of Iraq. As I said yesterday to Robert Gates, the nominee for Secretary of Defense, the American people deserve to know the ramifications of our decisions in Iraq."

"It is important to note this paragraph in the report: ‘If the situation continues to deteriorate, the consequences could be severe. A slide toward chaos could trigger the collapse of Iraq's government and a humanitarian catastrophe. Neighboring countries could intervene. Sunni-Shia clashes could spread. Al-Qaida could win a propaganda victory and expand its base of operations. The global standing of the United States could be diminished. Americans could become more polarized.’

"The ISG recommended no specific timetable for withdrawal upon the recommendation of all commanders in the field," Roberts said, "but there is agreement these changes could result in the withdrawal of combat troops within the 2008 time frame."

"In the meantime, I have no doubt our troops at Ft. Riley will prove critical to achieving the proposed benchmarks that will pave the way for success in Iraq. Not only will Fort Riley troops deploy throughout 2007, the 1^st Infantry Division’s 1^st and 3^rd Brigade Combat Teams continue to rigorously train U.S. soldiers to teach, coach and advise Iraqi and Afghan Security Forces through the Army’s Military Transition Team mission. Their work could not be more important as we work to stabilize Iraq in preparation for our eventual departure."

"As Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee," Roberts said, "I have been focused on the obvious need for better human intelligence capability in Iraq. In this regard, I am appreciative of the ISG recommendations regarding intelligence. Achieving this capability is a difficult and dangerous task but a task where improvements have been made and more are needed."

The report quotes an intelligence analyst who says: "We rely too much on others to bring information to us, and too often don’t understand what is reported back because we do not understand the context of what we are told."

"I have long argued that our intelligence collection in Iraq, as well as other areas, must get more aggressive," Roberts said. "We still rely far too much on surrogates, when we should be doing more of this work ourselves."