Second Baker-Hamilton Waiting On Baker

The Iraq Study Group might get a second go-round. Legislation pushed by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), which is now law, directs the U.S. Institute of Peace to support a second version of the commission that would send former Rep. Lee Hamilton and former Secretary of State James Baker III and two other commissioners to Iraq to assess the situation. Hamilton has told the Institute that he is prepared to go, according to Hamilton and an Institute spokesman.

“I think they could really be an asset,” said Wolf. “They ought to do it sooner and not later.” The Iraq Study Group initially recommended negotiations with neighboring countries and a gradual troop withdrawal. A second report, however, is waiting on Baker.

“He’s considering it and weighing his options,” said his spokesman John Williams, who wouldn’t venture a guess as to whether he’d go. “He’s a good poker player even with his staffers.”

The initial Iraq Study Group was also hosted by the U.S. Institute of Peace. Its report, released in December 2006, recommended a phased troop redeployment and negotiations with regional nations such as Iran and Syria. Congressional Democrats rallied around the report, and it has been downloaded more than a million times, but President Bush instead increased troop levels.

The legislative language that could reconstitute the ISG became law at the end of December and gives the new group 90 days to report back, which would fall toward the end of March. That month could shape up to be a highly Iraq-focused time. Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, in charge of the political side, will report to Congress on the progress of the “surge” and Iraqi political reconciliation.

The supplemental war spending request that Congress partially approved before adjourning in December might also come up for another vote in March, as the war effort runs low on funds.