Iraq Timeline: The "Next Few Months" Are Now

The House Committee on Armed Services is meeting today to consider "what's next for Iraq." Many military and government officials appear to believe the answer to that question should be "more of the same"—a disastrous status quo.

Throughout this past spring and summer, supporters of the war claimed that September would be the time to evaluate whether the troop escalation was improving the situation on the ground. Progress would be seen in "the next few months, in September," they said.

Now that September's here and mounting evidence—including recent reports from military professionals, the U.S. intelligence community, and the Government Accountability Office—shows little to no progress in Iraq, war supporters are calling for a next "next few months." Scroll through the timeline below to see the broken record for yourself, going all the way back to 2003.

Use the scroll bar at the bottom to navigate through the timeline. Click on the photos  for more information about each statement.
 

For more on this topic, please see:

• Strategic Reset: Reclaiming Control of U.S. Security in the Middle East
• How to Redploy: Implementing a Responsible Drawdown of U.S. Forces from Iraq