Another leak of the coming Baker Commission report suggests more diplomacy with despots and with the enemies of Israel.

“The bipartisan Iraq Study Group reached a consensus on Wednesday on a final report that will call for a gradual pullback of the 15 American combat brigades now in Iraq but stop short of setting a firm timetable for their withdrawal, according to people familiar with the panel’s deliberations.

The report, unanimously approved by the 10-member panel, led by James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton, is to be delivered to President Bush next week. It is a compromise between distinct paths that the group has debated since March, avoiding a specific timetable, which has been opposed by Mr. Bush, but making it clear that the American troop commitment should not be open-ended. The recommendations of the group, formed at the request of members of Congress, are nonbinding…..

As described by the people involved in the deliberations, the bulk of the report by the Baker-Hamilton group focused on a recommendation that the United States devise a far more aggressive diplomatic initiative in the Middle East than Mr. Bush has been willing to try so far, including direct engagement with Iran and Syria. Initially, those contacts might be part of a regional conference on Iraq or broader Middle East peace issues, like the Israeli-Palestinian situation, but they would ultimately involve direct, high-level talks with Tehran and Damascus.”

This spells trouble for Israel, but then I couldn’t expect less from James Baker - no friend of Israel.

Ed Laskey at American Thinker writes:

“Given his anti—Israel reputation, is it possible that James Baker brought his pre—conceived notions and ideology to the deliberations in order to game the conclusions? If the weekend disclosure in the Washington Post of his actions and the actions of the ISG are any indication, yes.

One of the leaks regarding the ISG conclusions is that it will call for greater outreach and negotiations with Iran and Syria regarding the fate of Iraq. These two nations are implacable foes of Israel and America, and are two of the leading terror—sponsoring nations in the world. Iran has been linked to the deaths of hundreds of Americans in the Beirut terror bombings during the Reagan years, as well as the bombing of the Khobar Towers complex in Saudi Arabia.”

This report needs to be renounced the minute it comes out. It’s inconcievable that we would dialog with those who have sworn to destroy not only Israel, but the US as well. Those like Iran who we know actively supplies insurgents in Iraq. It’s time for President Bush to stick to his guns and the nation’s defense and toss this crap as far as the east is from the west.