WASHINGTON — Army Gen. David Petraeus told Congress on Monday that the deployment of 30,000 more troops to Iraq has made enough progress that the additional combat forces can be pulled out by next summer, but he cautioned against “rushing to failure” with a larger and speedier withdrawal.
Petraeus, in a joint appearance with U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, presented an upbeat picture of improving security conditions in Iraq and offered a grim forecast of the “devastating consequences” of a more rapid pullout. Petraeus said his forces “have dealt significant blows” to al-Qaida in Iraq but warned that Iran is now fighting a “proxy war” against Iraqi and U.S. forces there.
President Bush in a report due by Saturday — but perhaps presented Thursday along with a national speech — is likely to adopt the recommendation for this rollback of his troop “surge.”
The general’s plan
Petraeus’ plan would rotate 2,200 Marines out of Anbar province in western Iraq this month without replacing them, then begin pulling out 17, 500 Army troops and 2,000 more Marines starting in mid-December. If logistics personnel and other supporting troops were also withdrawn, that would return force levels to the “pre-surge” number of 130,000 by mid-July. The general asked Congress to defer decisions on further reductions until March to get a better sense of the political and security situation.
The drawdown Petraeus presented moves up the previous military timetable that would have governed the troop increase barring any change in military policy. Military planners have said that the extra forces would have to begin withdrawing in April and that all would be out by August. Petraeus effectively proposed starting sooner but finishing by nearly the same deadline.
“Like Ambassador Crocker, I believe Iraq’s problems will require a long-term effort,” Petraeus testified before the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees. “There are no easy answers or quick solutions. And though we both believe this effort can succeed, it will take time. … A premature drawdown of our forces would likely have devastating consequences.”
Lawmakers react
Some Democrats challenged Petraeus, although with few sparks. Rep. Tom Lantos of California, chairman of the foreign affairs panel, complained that the general depicted the options as a choice between a nominal drawdown and a precipitous pullout without considering any middle ground. “Juxtaposing your token proposal with a hypothetical, rapid and irresponsible proposal does not do justice to this most important issue,” Lantos said.
“What I recommended was a very substantial withdrawal,” Petraeus countered.
Perhaps the most emotional exchange during the hearing came near the end when Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., declared that “the surge has failed.”
“How many more names will be added to the wall before we will admit it is time to leave?” Wexler asked, apparently in reference to a future Iraq war memorial. “How many more names, general?”
“No one is more conscious of the loss of life than the commander of the forces,” Petraeus responded.
“What Ambassador Crocker described to us today is very disappointing,” Rick Larsen, D-Wash., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, told The Herald after the hearing. Larsen represents part of Snohomish and all of Island counties.
“He did not come close to addressing the fundamental concern that the American people have that the Iraqi government has not solidified its authority and taken responsibility for the security of the country,” he said.
Larsen said U.S. troops need to be fighting terrorists and protecting U.S. civilians not “keeping a lid on a civil war.”
Republicans, by contrast, seized on the plan as a political lifeboat after months of being forced to vote against measures repudiating Bush’s policy. “Let the generals in the field dictate,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, an Iraq war veteran. “We would support it,” said Rep. Jack Kingston of Georgia.
Progress, and not
The numbers Petraeus presented pointed to improvements in security. Security incidents have declined in eight of the past 12 weeks and in the past two weeks reached the lowest levels since June 2006, he said. Civilian deaths, he added, are down 45 percent since December and 70 percent in Baghdad, while sectarian deaths have fallen by 55 percent. And he said U.S. forces have killed or captured 100 leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq and 2,500 rank-and-file fighters.
It fell to Crocker to acknowledge that Iraqi political leaders have not made much progress in forging national accord, the original goal of the surge, although he insisted that “the seeds of reconciliation are being planted.”
Crocker appealed for understanding, tracing the Iraqis’ problems in reaching consensus to the brutality of the former dictatorship and comparing the issues confronting them to those of slavery and civil rights that once tore apart the United States.
“Iraq is experiencing a revolution,” Crocker said, “not just regime change.”
Neither official addressed the Iraqis’ performance on the 18 benchmarks outlined by Congress, even though the Government Accountability Office reported last week that only three of the goals had been met.
The hearing will continue today.
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