Baghdad, Iraq ? The Iraq Study Group’s prescriptions hinge on a fragile Iraqi government’s ability to achieve national reconciliation and security at a time when the country is fractured along sectarian lines, its security forces are ineffective and competing visions threaten to collapse the state, Iraqi politicians and analysts said Wednesday.

They said the report is a recipe, backed by threats and disincentives, that neither addresses nor understands the complex forces that fuel Iraq’s woes. They described it as a strategy largely to help U.S. troops return home and resurrect America’s influence in the Middle East.

Iraqis also expressed fear that the report’s recommendations, if implemented, could weaken an already besieged government in a country teetering on the edge of civil war.

“It is a report to solve American problems, and not to solve Iraq’s problems,” said Ayad al-Sammarai, an influential Sunni politician.

The report arrives at a time of turmoil within the Iraqi government. Senior politicians from Iraq’s two major sects, Sunnis and Shiites, have been assassinated or kidnapped in recent weeks. Entire ministries are under the control of sect-based political parties with their own militias.

U.S. diplomats have been urging Iraq’s government to engage in a process of national reconciliation aimed at giving Sunnis a greater role, but the Shiite-led administration has been largely unwilling to do so. It is unclear whether increased pressure, as called for by group led by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, will result in Shiite leaders moving forward with a new power-sharing agreement.

The mistrust and divisions within the weak unity government are so deep that it is not certain whether the study group’s recommendations – such as using outside powers to exert diplomatic pressure and building a well-trained Iraqi army – can be effective, or might instead deepen the political and sectarian rifts.

Refugee crisis

Meanwhile, a refugee advocacy group on Wednesdaycalled on the United States to take the lead in helping the estimated 100,000 Iraqis who flee their country’s violence each month.

The influx has overwhelmed other Middle Eastern countries, particularly Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, which have increasingly restricted the ability of Iraqis to work and acquire health care and other services, Washington-based Refugees International said in a report.

The group’s Kristele Younes said the refugee crisis in Iraq is quickly becoming the world’s largest.

Last month, the U.N. High Commissioner of Refugees said 1.8 million Iraqis were living in other Arab countries, although the figure included those living outside Iraq before the 2003 invasion.

“The numbers are very, very scary,” said Younes.