Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
too little to late....
Houston Chronicle
January 19, 2007
Three say they see problems with Bush's Iraq plan; one says it would be key to U.S. exit
By Renee Schoof, McClatchy-Tribune
WASHINGTON — Three retired American generals told a Senate committee Thursday that they see problems with President Bush's new plan for Iraq, but a fourth general, who helped develop the plan, said it would be the key to an eventual U.S. exit.
The four testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as Congress examines Bush's plan to add 17,500 troops to help quell sectarian violence in Baghdad and 4,000 more to fight Sunni Muslim terrorists and insurgents in Iraq's Anbar province.
"Too little, too late," retired Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Hoar said.
The generals' testimony echoed skepticism in Congress about whether Iraq's Shiite Muslim prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, will stop Shiite militias from killing Sunni Iraqis and find a way to share political power and oil revenues equitably.
Hoar said that more troops should not be considered unless al-Maliki first disarmed the militias and purged their supporters from the police. "If he's not committed to make hard choices early on," he said, "there's no chance in pulling this thing off."
Hoar said Iraq needed a political — not military — solution, backed by diplomacy with countries in the region, including Iran and Syria. Bush has ruled out direct talks with Iran and Syria.
Retired Gen. Jack Keane, who devised the buildup plan and urged Bush to use it, told the senators that al-Maliki's goals aren't clear but that supporting him is still the best way to proceed. Keane's plan calls for the United States to target Sunni insurgents so that Shiites can pull back.
Keane said the U.S. troop increase would buy time to develop Iraqi forces. "They are our exit strategy," he said.
But retired Army Lt. Gen. William Odom said neither Shiites nor Sunnis appeared committed to national reconciliation.
Some senators pounced on Keane's uncertainty about al-Maliki.
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said the United States was "rolling the dice" and risking American lives and dollars for a plan whose outcome was too unclear.
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., the committee's chairman, opposes Bush's troop increase, but he said the part of the plan that concerned him most had to do with Iran.
Bush said when he unveiled the Iraq plan Jan. 10 that the United States would stop the flow of support from Iran and Syria to terrorists and insurgents in Iraq. Officials later said that didn't mean that U.S. forces would cross into either country.
But Biden said that in 34 years in Congress, "I've learned to read between the lines."
Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey suggested that the U.S. equip the Iraqi armed forces and gradually withdraw about half of U.S. combat forces while moving the rest to bases.
Houston Chronicle
January 19, 2007
Three say they see problems with Bush's Iraq plan; one says it would be key to U.S. exit
By Renee Schoof, McClatchy-Tribune
WASHINGTON — Three retired American generals told a Senate committee Thursday that they see problems with President Bush's new plan for Iraq, but a fourth general, who helped develop the plan, said it would be the key to an eventual U.S. exit.
The four testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as Congress examines Bush's plan to add 17,500 troops to help quell sectarian violence in Baghdad and 4,000 more to fight Sunni Muslim terrorists and insurgents in Iraq's Anbar province.
"Too little, too late," retired Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Hoar said.
The generals' testimony echoed skepticism in Congress about whether Iraq's Shiite Muslim prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, will stop Shiite militias from killing Sunni Iraqis and find a way to share political power and oil revenues equitably.
Hoar said that more troops should not be considered unless al-Maliki first disarmed the militias and purged their supporters from the police. "If he's not committed to make hard choices early on," he said, "there's no chance in pulling this thing off."
Hoar said Iraq needed a political — not military — solution, backed by diplomacy with countries in the region, including Iran and Syria. Bush has ruled out direct talks with Iran and Syria.
Retired Gen. Jack Keane, who devised the buildup plan and urged Bush to use it, told the senators that al-Maliki's goals aren't clear but that supporting him is still the best way to proceed. Keane's plan calls for the United States to target Sunni insurgents so that Shiites can pull back.
Keane said the U.S. troop increase would buy time to develop Iraqi forces. "They are our exit strategy," he said.
But retired Army Lt. Gen. William Odom said neither Shiites nor Sunnis appeared committed to national reconciliation.
Some senators pounced on Keane's uncertainty about al-Maliki.
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said the United States was "rolling the dice" and risking American lives and dollars for a plan whose outcome was too unclear.
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., the committee's chairman, opposes Bush's troop increase, but he said the part of the plan that concerned him most had to do with Iran.
Bush said when he unveiled the Iraq plan Jan. 10 that the United States would stop the flow of support from Iran and Syria to terrorists and insurgents in Iraq. Officials later said that didn't mean that U.S. forces would cross into either country.
But Biden said that in 34 years in Congress, "I've learned to read between the lines."
Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey suggested that the U.S. equip the Iraqi armed forces and gradually withdraw about half of U.S. combat forces while moving the rest to bases.