A December 8 New York Times article describing how the Iraq Study Group (ISG) arrived at its conclusions asserted as fact that Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) had urged the panel's creation after he “grew alarmed by what he saw in Iraq during a visit last year.” But, as Media Matters for America noted, that description of why Wolf pushed for the ISG is not entirely consistent with what the congressman stated publicly when he returned from his trip in September 2005. In an op-ed for the September 24, 2005, edition of The Washington Post, Wolf stressed, not that the war was going badly, but rather that “real progress is being made, despite the ongoing security concerns” -- progress to which, he wrote, the media were not giving sufficient attention. In his Post op-ed, Wolf wrote that the panel he proposed could explore the “underreported but significant successes” in Iraq and could as well “assure Americans -- no matter what their positions are on the war -- that every effort is being made to protect our troops and realize our goal of a secure and peaceful Iraq.”

Wolf also issued an official trip report which continued this message of unreported “real progress” despite significant security problems. “Up front,” he wrote, “I want to make clear that there are many positive things happening in Iraq. I saw with my own eyes real progress being made on several fronts.” He added, however, that "[s]adly, much of this 'good' news is going unreported because security still remains the number one problem facing Iraq. The country is far from being safe. ... Until we get security under control, our efforts to rebuild Iraq will continue to be a challenge." But, he continued, "[t]o really understand what is happening in Iraq, you have to talk to the service men and women who are serving -- or have served -- there." According to Wolf, many soldiers told him they “were bewildered by the news accounts coming out of Iraq. Many said the Iraq being portrayed on the news is not the Iraq they see every day. ... Time and again I had soldiers, civilians and even members of the Iraqi government say they wished the media would report some 'good' things happening in Iraq.”

As for the proposed review panel, Wolf wrote that "[m]y motive behind the appointment of this group is not to find fault with the U.S. effort there now."

Media Matters has documented other media outlets (here and here) that have recently asserted that Wolf pushed for the ISG because he believed the situation in Iraq was deteriorating, without mentioning the rosy assessment Wolf publicly gave at the time.

Furthermore, in an interview on the September 27, 2005, edition of MSNBC's The Situation with Tucker Carlson (renamed Tucker), Wolf reiterated his accentuate-the-positive assessment in response to host Tucker Carlson's more skeptical view. “In Iraq,” Wolf said, “schools are being rebuilt, and now open. We saw a number of school kids going to school. Hospitals being rebuilt, and now open. We watched the Iraqi army being trained. The only thing that is not any better is the issue of security, and security is still very, very bad.” He also stated, “Everyone we spoke to -- military people -- believe things are going relatively well other than security. Clearly security is a problem.” Asked by Carlson to “give me hope for why this is going well,” Wolf responded, “I would ask you to read my entire report. If you read my entire report, you'll get hope. ... There are very good things happening, and we cannot be negative. ... There are positive things taking place in Iraq ... except for security."

In this context, Wolf told Carlson that he proposed “the administration send a team” that would “report back to the American people, what is going on, the good and the bad? ... [I]s the insurgency growing? Is it weakening?”

From the December 8 New York Times article, headlined, “A Turning Point for a Panel: 4 Harrowing Days in Iraq”:

The study group was created by Congress at the urging of Representative Frank R. Wolf, a Virginia Republican active in foreign-policy issues who grew alarmed by what he saw in Iraq during a visit last year.

He pressed Congressional leaders to approve $1 million for the project through the Washington-based United States Institute of Peace, which oversaw logistical and scholarly support for the project and helped recruit Mr. Baker and his Democratic co-chairman, Lee H. Hamilton, a former chairman of the House International Relations Committee. Mr. Baker and Mr. Hamilton selected the commission's other members -- four Republicans and four Democrats, all of them retired or close to it. The average age of the panel members: 74.

From the September 27, 2005, edition of MSNBC's The Situation with Tucker Carlson:

CARLSON: Joining me now is Republican congressman, Frank Wolf. He represents Virginia's 10th district; he just returned from his third trip to Iraq. Congressman Wolf, thanks a lot for joining me.

WOLF: I'm glad to be with you.

CARLSON: Now, I think a lot of people, me definitely included, want to support the war in Iraq, but have completely lost track of why we're there, and the only things we see are the things that are clearly hurting America -- the dead bodies, et cetera -- and it seems to be there's no end in sight. Why, to start at the beginning, why are we fighting this war?

WOLF: Well, there are a lot of reasons, but whether you wanted to be in Iraq or not, I think you have to deal with it where we are today. This having been my third trip, each time we've been there, I've seen improvement.

I went back this summer because, all during the summer, there were bad stories coming out of Iraq, so I wanted to go and see. We spent two days in Iraq, one night and two days in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, things going relatively well, fragile, but well. In Iraq, schools are being rebuilt, and now open. We saw a number of school kids going to school. Hospitals being rebuilt, and now open. We watched the Iraqi army being trained.

The only thing that is not any better is the issue of security, and security is still very, very bad.

CARLSON: But, Congressman, how can any of the things you mentioned mean anything without security? I mean, just today or yesterday, Iraq time, you had five teachers murdered in a school. So, what does it matter if they're open if people are getting killed?

WOLF: Well, let me move on and give you the other side of the coin. Everyone we met with, then -- I was by myself with a staffer -- and so we were not with a big congressional delegation. I asked everyone -- Iraqi citizens, Iraqi leadership, our people, both privates and generals -- what are the ramifications of failure?

And I think the failure of the administration to adequately explain what are the ramifications -- whether you wanted to be there or not -- of failing: destabilization of that region, the Sunni triangle turns into a free-for-all. The worries we've heard were Somalia, Black Hawk down, former Yugoslavia, Vukovar [Croatia], Sarajevo, Mostar [Bosnia and Herzegovina], things like this -- overthrow of, perhaps, the Jordanian government; overthrow of the Saudi government; overthrow of the Egyptian government.

CARLSON: But, Congressman, with all due respect, you haven't answered my question. I understand. I think most people do. It would be terrible if Iraq were to get even worse than it is but, again, what is the --

WOLF: Well, I'm not --

CARLSON: -- when people die, what does the president say to them about why they died? Why are we there? I think that --

WOLF: Well, we are there fighting, whether you wanted to be there or not, we are there fighting terror, and it isn't a question of Iraq now; it's a question of the United States and the West. If we were to fail in Iraq, the impact for the United States for terrorism would be very, very bad.

I was the author of the National Commission on Terror [sic] in 1998 after getting back from Algeria. The world neglected whatever was in that report. On the report of the national commission, there's a picture of the World Trade Center, the World Trade Center on fire, and the report came out in the year 2000. jihadists, terrorists would be emboldened by the failure, so --

CARLSON: But, wait a second. I'm sorry, Congressman, but -- OK.

WOLF: -- whether we want to be there or not -- whether we want to be there or not, we are there, and failure in Iraq would be cataclysmic.

CARLSON: But we're failing right now. It seems pretty clear, we -- the U.S. military kills insurgents --

WOLF: Well, but -- but, Tucker, you can't say -- Tucker --

CARLSON: Actually, I can say that. I have been there.

WOLF: No, you cannot say it, because you -- well --

CARLSON: Yes, I can. Well, here then, answer this one question. If the U.S. military --

WOLF: Where were you? Where you -- where you in -- were you in Tikrit? Where you in Tikrit?

CARLSON: No, I was in Baghdad in the south, unaccompanied by the U.S. military. And good for you, by the way, for not going on --

WOLF: And I was -- I was --

CARLSON: on a -- with a delegation. But let me just ask this question.

WOLF: Sure.

CARLSON: OK. The U.S. military, terrific at what it does, has killed huge numbers of insurgents, right? And continues to kill them every day -- and good for them for doing so -- but those insurgents are replaced by new insurgents clearly every single day. So, if this war is not a recruiting tool for insurgents, how can you explain the new insurgents joining the fight?

WOLF: Everyone we spoke to -- military people -- believe things are going relatively well other than security. Clearly security is a problem.

But you have jihadists. You have people coming in, foreign terrorists, who are willing to blow themselves up. One young Marine lieutenant said, “What I see on CNN and on cable television network when I watch the television in the mess hall isn't anything compared to what I see.” If the war in Iraq is lost, it will not be lost in Iraq. It will be lost here in the United States.

CARLSON: I'm even willing to believe that, but I think most Americans at this point, two and a half years into it, want to know how we're going to win it.

WOLF: Well, I -- if you read the column that I had in The Washington Post --

CARLSON: I did.

WOLF: I talked about the recommendation that we made is fresh eyes on the target: that the administration send a team to go there for seven to 10 to 14 days, made up of five or six former generals, maybe some who are opposed to actually going into Iraq. Perhaps [retired] General [Anthony] Zinni, also former Secretary of State [George] Schultz, perhaps even [former national security adviser] Brent Scowcroft to go report back to the American people, what is going on, the good and the bad? How -- is the insurgency growing? Is it weakening?

CARLSON: Well, you've been -- you've been there three times, Congressman, so you're equipped, I think, to answer this last question. We keep hearing about how we're going to turn over Iraq to the Iraqis, and this new civil society is going to flower and this democracy and new government, et cetera. Who is the Thomas Jefferson of Iraq? Who's the one man we can look to to help create this new society?

WOLF: I don't know that there are any Thomas Jeffersons, George Washingtons. But, Tucker, we had a revolution in 1776. The Constitution was ratified in Philadelphia in 1787. It wasn't adopted until 1789. We had George Washington. We -- Thomas Jefferson wasn't there, but we had Ben Franklin. We had James Madison. They don't have these people but, in some respects, they have made a lot of progress, and be careful that you just don't push this thing. In fairness to the media, God bless

CARLSON: Made a lot of progress? They have less electricity, fewer jobs, more killings than they did before the invasion.

WOLF: Tucker, I can't believe --

CARLSON: That's true.

WOLF: It's -- Tucker, it is not true. It is -- absolutely -- what you said is absolutely false. There's more electricity in Basra. There's more electricity in Nasiriyah. There's more electricity in Al Kut. There's more electricity -- there's not more electricity --

CARLSON: Is there more electricity in Baghdad --

WOLF: In Baghdad, it's about --

CARLSON: -- the capital city?

WOLF: In Baghdad, it's about the same because --

CARLSON: I don't -- I have -- you're the only person I've heard who've said that.

WOLF: But, Tucker, the reason for that is -- my goodness gracious, think about it. The reason for that is Saddam made sure that the electricity went to Baghdad and went to Tikrit and did not go to the -- to the sharing --.

CARLSON: Really? Is it -- is it a more welcoming environment for women? Are women able to wonder around without covering as they could before Saddam? No.

WOLF: You know, Tucker, God bless you, but you're being so negative here.

CARLSON: It's not that I'm negative, it's that I think -- I think that this, despite my hopes --

WOLF: When's the last time you were there?

CARLSON: A year and a half ago. And despite -- and I have many friends who are there. I have a friend who was killed there -- and despite --

WOLF: But, Tucker --

CARLSON: And so, it's not a matter, necessarily, in my case, at all, of disinformation from the media -- I'm a conservative, a strong -- I'm the most conservative person I know, and I think this war is hurting America, and I want you or anyone else to give me hope for why this is going well, and I just don't see it.

WOLF: Well, Tucker -- well, Tucker, then I would ask you to read my entire report. If you read my entire report, you'll get hope. Everyone we -- everyone -- I didn't come on here to get in an argument with you. I think you're a good guy. I like your dad and mom; perhaps I like them better than I like you, but, there are good things --

CARLSON: I'll take that as a compliment, anyway.

WOLF: It is a compliment, and you know I meant it that way. There are very good things happening, and we cannot be negative. There are good things happening in Afghanistan. Five years ago, they were taking women to the soccer stadium -- I led the first delegation to Afghanistan after the war -- and they were shooting them in the head. Now, we have 52 percent of the people turn out. Women are showing up with burka or without. The schools are opening.

There are positive things taking place in Iraq, except for, except for security; and you have foreign terrorists coming across the Syrian border.

CARLSON: Right.

WOLF: But, I mean, it just -- it really does not do service to the American men and women that are serving there. If the war is lost --

CARLSON: What doesn't do service? [inaudible]

WOLF: It's not going to let -- if the war -- the attitude that nothing is going well there. Come -- come back with --

CARLSON: My point is not that nothing's -- that nothing's going well there, it's just, objectively, things don't seem to be going nearly as well as I had hoped. It seems like it's a disaster. That's not an insult to the men and women in uniform. I feel sorry for them.

WOLF: Tucker -- Tucker, it's -- oh, well.

CARLSON: All right, Congressman, I'm afraid we're going to have to continue this later.

WOLF: Come -- come with --

CARLSON: I'll read your report and I hope -- the whole thing -- and I hope it does make me more hopeful.

WOLF: Please read the whole report.

CARLSON: I shall. Thanks for being on tonight.

WOLF: Maybe the next trip, you should come with me.

CARLSON: I would love to. I'll take you up on it. Congressman Frank Wolf of Virginia, thanks for coming on.

WOLF: Thank you.