“On December 6 [2006], the Iraq Study Group [ISG] finally released its report, ‘The Way Forward–A New Approach.’ Describing the situation in Iraq as ‘grave and deteriorating,’ the ISG report did not shy away from pointing out that the new Iraqi army, the police force, and even Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki often showed greater loyalty to their ethnic identities than to the ideal of a nonsectarian, democratic Iraq. The report concluded that sending more American soldiers to Iraq would not resolve what were fundamentally political problems. The subtext was clear: America’s policies in Iraq had failed. It was time for the administration to cut its losses.”
– Craig Unger, The Fall of the House of Bush, Page 342