WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- A leading American Arab organization Thursday said it felt "deep disappointment" at President George W. Bush's new Iraq policy.
The Washington-based Arab American Institute said in a statement it wanted to express "deep disappointment at President Bush's revised Iraq strategy."
"AAI is dismayed that key proposals Bush outlined -- including his over reliance on the weak and ineffective government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki -- not only run counter to the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group report, but also risk placing both the (United States) and the Middle East region in a precarious situation," the statement said.
AAI said it welcomed the president's decision to include "some of the important ISG elements into his revised policy on Iraq." However, the organizations aid it was "deeply troubled by the obvious omission of several key recommendations that would have long-lasting impact on our standing not only in Iraq, but in the Middle East as a whole."
"The president's address was particularly distressing in that his new strategy for Iraq would only address the situation from a myopic viewpoint, ignoring the strongly stated ISG recommendation that the problems of Iraq must be dealt with in context with the wider issues of the Middle East," the statement said.
AAI said it backed "the ISG position that the (United States) must aggressively pursue a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict in order to secure peace in the region, as well as be willing to engage Iran and Syria in talks."
"It has been nearly four years since the invasion of Iraq, and the situation is far worse now than in 2003," AAI said. "It is time the Bush administration and the (United States) approach important regional players and seek their support in helping us extricate ourselves from Iraq."
