The report calls the situation in Iraq "grave and deteriorating" and says, "There is no path that can guarantee success, but the prospects can be improved". The report makes a wide-ranging series of 79 recommendations for political, diplomatic, economic, and military action so the U.S. can "begin to move its combat forces" out of Iraq.

The co-chairs of the Iraq Study Group were James A. Baker III, who served Pres. Reagan as Secretary of the Treasury and White House Chief of Staff, and Pres. George H.W. Bush as Secretary of State; and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, a Democrat who served in Congress for 34 years.

Democratic members of the Study Group included former Secretary of Defense William Perry; former Governor and Senator Charles S. Robb; former Congressman and White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta; and Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., advisor to Pres. Clinton. Republican members included former Associate Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court Sandra Day O'Connor; former Sen. Alan K. Simpson; former Attorney General Edwin Meese III; and former Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger. (Former CIA Director Robert Gates was an active member for a period of months until his nomination as Secretary of Defense.)

Four organizations participated in preparing the report: United States Institute of Peace; James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University; Center for the Study of the Presidency; and Center for Strategic and International Studies.

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