Yesterday the White House released a report to Congress on how President Bush feels about progress being made in Iraq. Congress asked him specifically to report on 18 pre-arranged benchmarks. You can read the full report; in addition I have listed the 18 benchmarks and how they were assessed by the President. According to news reports only 8 of the 18 have been rated as “satisfactory.” President Bush says he’s pleased by the progress. I don’t know anyone else who would be pleased with a success rate of 43% but that’s what we have.
These are the benchmarks:
1. Forming a Constitutional Review Committee and then completing the constitutional review.
Assessment: The Government of Iraq has made satisfactory progress toward forming a Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) and then completing the constitutional review.
2. Enacting and implementing legislation on de-Ba’thification reform.
Assessment: The Government of Iraq has not made satisfactory progress toward enacting and implementing legislation on de-Ba’athification reform.
3. Enacting and implementing legislation to ensure the equitable distribution of hydrocarbon resources to the people of Iraq without regard to the sect or ethnicity of recipients, and enacting and implementing legislation to ensure that the energy resources of Iraq benefit Sunni Arabs, Shi’a Arabs, Kurds, and other Iraqi citizens in the equitable manner.
Assessment: The current status is unsatisfactory, but it is too early to tell whether the Government of Iraq will enact and implement legislation to ensure the equitable distribution of hydrocarbon resources to all Iraqis.
4. Enacting and implementing legislation on procedures to form semi-autonomous regions.
Assessment: The Government of Iraq has made satisfactory progress toward enacting and implementing legislation on procedures to form semi-autonomous regions.
5. Enacting and implementing legislation establishing an Independent High Electoral Commission, provincial council authorities, and a date for provincial elections.
Assessment: There are multiple components to this benchmark, each deserving its own assessment:

• Establishing the IHEC Commission: The Government of Iraq has made satisfactory progress toward establishing an IHEC Commission.
• Elections Law: The Government of Iraq has not made satisfactory progress toward establishing a provincial elections law.
• Provincial Council Authorities: The Government of Iraq has not made satisfactory progress toward establishing provincial council authorities.
• Provincial Elections Date: The Government of Iraq has not made satisfactory progress toward establishing a date for provincial election

6. Enacting and implementing legislation addressing amnesty.
Assessment: The prerequisites for a successful general amnesty are not present; however, in the current security environment, it is not clear that such action should be a near-term Iraqi goal.
7. Enacting and implementing legislation establishing a strong militia disarmament program to ensure that such security forces are accountable only to the central government and loyal to the constitution of Iraq.
Assessment: The prerequisites for a successful militia disarmament program are not present.
8. Establishing supporting political, media, economic, and service committees in support of the Baghdad Security Plan.

Assessment: The Government of Iraq has made satisfactory progress toward establishing supporting political, media, economic, and service committees in support of the Baghdad Security Plan.
9. Providing three trained and ready Iraqi brigades to support Baghdad operations.
Assessment: The Government of Iraq has made satisfactory progress toward providing three trained and ready Iraqi brigades to support Baghdad operations.
10. Providing Iraqi commanders with all authorities to execute this plan and to make tactical and operational decisions in consultation with U.S. Commanders without political intervention to include the authority to pursue all extremists including Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias.
Assessment: The Government of Iraq has not made satisfactory progress toward providing Iraqi commanders with all authorities to execute this plan and to make tactical and operational decisions in consultation with U.S. Commanders without political intervention to include the authority to pursue all extremists including Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias.
11. Ensuring that Iraqi Security Forces are providing even-handed enforcement of the law.
Assessment: The Government of Iraq has not at this time made satisfactory progress in ensuring that Iraqi Security Forces are providing even-handed enforcement of the law; however, there has been significant progress in achieving increased even-handedness through the use of coalition partnering and embedded-transition teams with Iraqi Security Force units.
12. Ensuring that, as Prime Minister Malaiki was quoted by President Bush as saying, “the Baghdad Security Plan will not provide a safe haven for any outlaws, regardless of [their] sectarian or political affiliation.”
Assessment: The Government of Iraq has made satisfactory progress in ensuring the Baghdad Security Plan does not provide a safe haven for any outlaws, regardless of their sectarian or political affiliations.
13. Reducing the level of sectarian violence in Iraq and eliminating militia control of local security.
Assessment: The Government of Iraq–with substantial Coalition assistance–has made satisfactory progress toward reducing sectarian violence but has shown unsatisfactory progress toward eliminating militia control of local security.
14. Establishing all of the planned joint security stations in neighborhoods across Baghdad.
Assessment: The Government of Iraq—with substantial Coalition assistance—has made satisfactory progress toward establishing the planned JSSs (joint security stations) in Baghdad.
15. Increasing the number of Iraqi security forces units capable of operating independently.
Assessment: The Iraqi Government has made unsatisfactory progress toward increasing the number of Iraqi Security Forces units capable of operating independently.
16. Ensuring that the rights of minority political parties in the Iraqi legislature are protected.
Assessment: The Government of Iraq has made satisfactory progress toward ensuring that the rights of minority political parties in the Iraqi legislature are protected.
17. Allocating and spending $10 billion in Iraqi revenues for reconstruction projects, including delivery of essential services, on an equitable basis.
Assessment: The Iraqi Government is making satisfactory progress in allocating funds to ministries and provinces, but even if the full $10 billion capital budget is allocated, spending units will not be able to spend all these funds by the end of 2007.
18. Ensuring that Iraq’s political authorities are not undermining or making false accusations against members of the ISF.
Assessment: The Government of Iraq has made unsatisfactory progress in ensuring that Iraq’s political authorities are not undermining or making false accusations against members of the ISF.
Conclusion: President Bush is telling us to wait until the final report on September 15th but it’s hard to imagine that the other 10 benchmarks will have made much progress, especially considering that the Iraqi Parliament is planning to take off the month of August. You can see Press Secretary Tony Snow’s remarks on this at his July 13th press briefing.

Q Is the Iraqi government and the Iraqi parliament taking the month of August off?

MR. SNOW: Probably, yes. Just not —

Q They’re taking the entire month of August off, before the September deadline?

MR. SNOW: It looks like they may, yes. Just like the U.S. Congress is.

Q Have you tried to talk them out of that?

MR. SNOW: You know, it’s 130 degrees in Baghdad in August, I’ll pass on your recommendation.

Q Well, Tony, Tony, I’m sorry, that’s — you know — I mean, there are a lot of things that happen by September and it’s 130 degrees for the U.S. military also on the ground —

MR. SNOW: You know, that’s a good point. And it’s 130 degrees for the Iraqi military. The Iraqis, you know, I’ll let them — my understanding is that at this juncture they’re going to take August off, but, you know, they may change their minds.

It’s going to be a long, hot summer.

We subscribe to the San Diego Union Tribune mostly because it’s the only paper in town. We also read the Los Angeles Times and it’s so much better it almost hurts. On the other hand sometimes there is something good in the local rag and today was a good example. Steve Breen is the editorial cartoonist and had this cartoon in today’s paper.

When Blessed Pope John XXIII opened the Ecumenical Council of Vatican II on October 11, 1962 he said he wished to open the windows of the Catholic Church and let in some fresh air. It appears that the current pope, Benedict XVI, is continuing the tradition of his predecessor and is slamming shut those very same windows.

Last week word came down that Benedict XVI has loosened the regulations on the Tridentine (Latin) Mass. Previously a priest was required to obtain the permission of his bishop to celebrate the Tridentine mass publicly; now any priest can celebrate it when he wants. For us liberal Catholics this was “much ado about nothing” as most places have a Latin mass somewhere if you want to attend. Here in San Diego it’s celebrated each week at Holy Cross Cemetery. Conservatives and those who like the Latin Mass have complained that some bishops have not been cooperative in allowing congregations to attend Mass in Latin but I don’t think that’s true. I think these folk are going to find that it’s hard to find a priest who knows the Latin Mass; I know I never learned it.

But today we received the truly bad news from the Vatican. Previous to Vatican II it was generally taught that the Catholic Church was the only true Church and Protestants were misled. There was no serious dialogue with other Christian Churches and any ecumenism was based on the belief that when they come crawling back to us asking for forgiveness that we’ll accept them back. Vatican II taught that while the fullness of truth “subsists” in the Catholic Church, there is truth in other Churches (called “communities” in the official documents). From this teaching many denominations began to talk about Ecumenism, and talks started in the hope that someday all Christian Churches would one day be reunited. Today we read that the Pope has a different agenda. Last week the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly the Office of the Holy Inquisition) released a document called Responsa Ad Quaestiones De Aliquibus Sententiis Ad Doctrinam De Ecclesia Pertinetibus, or “Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine of the Church” that does nothing but make things more difficult. It claims that the Catholic Church is the only true Church and that other religions are “defective” or “wounded” (depending on how the Latin is translated). It doesn’t say anything new, but it didn’t need to be done. All this does is demand that other Christians reply that this will hurt any dialogue and move us back. It will, in short, slam shut the windows that were bringing in fresh air. It’s also embarrassing to many of us faithful Catholics who have deep and enduring friendships with our Protestant sisters and brothers.