ance to Iraq will fall
on deaf ears if Americans become disillusioned with the government
that the United States invested so much to create. U.S. foreign policy
cannot be successfully sustained without the broad support of the
American people.

Continued problems in Iraq could also lead to greater Iraqi opposition
to the United States. Recent polling indicates that only 36 percent of
Iraqis feel their country is heading in the right direction, and 79
percent of Iraqis have a "mostly negative" view of the influence that
the United States has in their country. Sixty-one percent of Iraqis
approve of attacks on U.S.-led forces. If Iraqis continue to perceive
Americans as representing an occupying force, the United States could
become its own worst enemy in a land it liberated from tyranny.

These and other predictions of dire consequences in Iraq and the
region are by no means a certainty. Iraq has taken several positive
steps since Saddam Hussein was overthrown: Iraqis restored full
sovereignty, conducted open national elections, drafted a permanent
constitution, ratified that constitution, and elected a new government
pursuant to that constitution. Iraqis may become so sobered by the
prospect of an unfolding civil war and intervention by their regional
neighbors that they take the steps necessary to avert catastrophe. But
at the moment, such a scenario seems implausible because the Iraqi
people and their leaders have been slow to demonstrate the capacity or
will to act.

C. Some Alternative Courses in Iraq

Because of the gravity of the situation in Iraq and of its
consequences for Iraq, the United States, the region, and the world,
the Iraq Study Group has carefully considered the full range of
alternative approaches for moving forward. We recognize that there is
no perfect solution and that all that have been suggested have flaws.
The following are some of the more notable possibilities that we have
considered.

1. Precipitate Withdrawal

Because of the importance of Iraq, the potential for catastrophe, and
the role and commitments of the United States in initiating events
that have led to the current situation, we believe it would be wrong
for the United States to abandon the country through a precipitate
withdrawal of troops and support. A premature American departure from
Iraq would almost certainly produce greater sectarian violence and
further deterioration of conditions, leading to a number of the