I think I found the 18 benchmarks for Iraq

You’d think some newspaper or news network would have reported this by now. They haven’t.

But the Iraq war funding bill, H.R. 2206, which Congress passed yesterday, contains the 18 benchmarks for success in Iraq. They are in Title I, Section 1314(b)(1)(a), from “i” to “xviii.” (Look it up at Thomas.)

Holy cow, this was hard to find, in part because the final version doesn’t appear to have been in the Library of Congress “Thomas” Web site until after the bill was passed.

Benchmarks, ‘i’ to ‘xviii.’ The bill, now law, is the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate) [H.R.2206.ENR]. The act actually calls the benchmarks “benchmarks” in final form.

Here they are, from Section 1314(b)(1)(a), “i” to “xviii.”

(A) The United States strategy in Iraq, hereafter, shall be conditioned on the Iraqi government meeting benchmarks, as told to members of Congress by the President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and reflected in the Iraqi Government's commitments to the United States, and to the international community, including:

(i) Forming a Constitutional Review Committee and then completing the constitutional review.

(ii) Enacting and implementing legislation on de-Baathification.

(iii) Enacting and implementing legislation to ensure the equitable distribution of hydrocarbon resources of 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, Shia Arabs, Kurds, and other Iraqi citizens in an equitable manner.

(iv) Enacting and implementing legislation on procedures to form semi-autonomous regions.

(v) Enacting and implementing legislation establishing an Independent High Electoral Commission, provincial elections law, provincial council authorities, and a date for provincial elections.

(vi) Enacting and implementing legislation addressing amnesty.

(vii) 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.

(viii) Establishing supporting political, media, economic, and services committees in support of the Baghdad Security Plan.

(ix) Providing three trained and ready Iraqi brigades to support Baghdad operations.

(x) 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.

(xi) Ensuring that the Iraqi Security Forces are providing even handed enforcement of the law.

(xii) Ensuring that, according to President Bush, Prime Minister Maliki said `the Baghdad security plan will not provide a safe haven for any outlaws, regardless of [their] sectarian or political affiliation'.

(xiii) Reducing the level of sectarian violence in Iraq and eliminating militia control of local security.

(xiv) Establishing all of the planned joint security stations in neighborhoods across Baghdad.

(xv) Increasing the number of Iraqi security forces units capable of operating independently.

(xvi) Ensuring that the rights of minority political parties in the Iraqi legislature are protected.

(xvii) Allocating and spending $10 billion in Iraqi revenues for reconstruction projects, including delivery of essential services, on an equitable basis.

(xviii) Ensuring that Iraq's political authorities are not undermining or making false accusations against members of the Iraqi Security Forces.

* * *

There you have it, the 18 benchmarks for Iraq success. You probably read them here first.

Frank Warner

July 10 update: No one cared about the 18 benchmarks until they could be used to lose.

See also: 12 of the 18 Iraq benchmarks for success have been met.

* * *

Update: It’s 15 of 18 now. Significant progress has been seen in achieving 15 of the 18 benchmarks for Iraq’s success. In July 2008, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad released its report finding that Iraq had not made significant progress only in the areas of benchmarks (iii), (vii) and (xi).

Those three poor marks indicate Iraq’s failure to enact and implement laws on fairly dividing up Iraq’s oil revenue; failure to disarm all militias and insurgent groups; and failure to improved the professionalism and even-handedness of the Iraqi police.

But in every other category, Iraq was making progress, as of May 2008, when the review was made. In July 2008, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad released its report finding that Iraq had not made significant progress only in the areas of benchmarks (iii), (vii) and (xi).

Those three poor marks indicate Iraq’s failure to enact and implement laws on fairly dividing up Iraq’s oil revenue; failure to disarm all militias and insurgent groups; and failure to improved the professionalism and even-handedness of the Iraqi police.

But in every other category, Iraq was making progress.

Comments

[Cd]

I too, looked and looked for these benchmarks. Thanks for posting them. One would think the mainstream press would publish them, or at least feature some of the main ones like passage of the Hydrocarbon law, which has been described as calling for: "privatization of Iraq's oil sector... [which] would give foreign multinationals a much higher rate of return than they enjoy in other major oil producing countries and would lock in their control ..... [from http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/51624/]
and as "a giveaway of the Iraqi oil reserves to foreign oil companies" [from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/10/04044/8943].

I'm a little late to the debate, but found those articles illuminating to what is actually reported in the mainstream US press.

[Frank Warner]

I have the feeling certain parties are trying too hard to describe Iraq's oil law in a way that fits their "Blood for Oil" fiction.

Others oppose any free market development of Iraq's oil, which would happen by competitive bidding. These objectors argue that all Iraqi oil must be owned, explored for, drilled for, pumped and marketed only by Iraq's national government, as if government is best at these tasks.

For the first time in their history, the Iraqi people own Iraq's oil. How they want to divide it up is up to them, as they and their democratically officials freely decide. I have the feeling they'll come up with partial nationalization, partial privatization. The main thing is that all Iraqis should share in the profits.

Cd, that Alternet story you cite also distorted what the Iraq parliament wanted as far as a U.S. withdrawal timetable. What it failed to mention is that some parliamentarians demanded conditions for a U.S. withdrawal, and, most importantly of all, the legislation they claim to have supported had no withdrawal date.

[GDAEman]

Cd, agree: "How they want to divide it [the oil] up is up to them."

That's why many people are trying to expose the fact that the "Iraq" oil law was written, in great part, by Americans (James Baker consultants), and most people in Iraq don't even know what the law says.

On the "blood for oil" fiction... what part do you see as "fiction", the oil or the blood?

[George]

The oil was flowing all the way up to the resumption of the war in 2003. In fact, it was flowing very well thanks to the French and the Oil for Food scandal. So how could there possibly by any fact to the "blood for oil" meme? The U.S. didn't need to depose Saddam Hussein for the oil.

[Frank Warner]

For the first time ever, Iraqi oil is for a free Iraq, not for a fascist dictator. Its profits will be divided under democratically enacted laws. The Iraq oil law appears on track to awarding its first oil development contract to China.

The second contract probably will go to India.

And to think, some people wanted Saddam Hussein and sons to have that oil to promote fascism and genocide forever. Those people will have to live with their shame.