Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
November 21, 2006
Pg. 12
Lawmakers on both sides, head of study group call for change
By Matt Kelley and Barbara Slavin, USA Today
WASHINGTON — Increased pressure from Congress and high level studies commissioned by the Pentagon and the White House are prodding President Bush to significantly change strategy in Iraq for the first time since the war began in March 2003.
A new Democratic majority in Congress, the imminent departure of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and a recent flurry of high-level studies have made conditions ripe for change.
The Pentagon, State Department and White House are exploring options for changing course in Iraq. The Iraq Study Group, led by former secretary of State James Baker and former Indiana congressman Lee Hamilton, is preparing to present its recommendations next month.
Bush said he is still weighing options. “I haven't made any decisions about troop increases or troop decreases, and won't until I hear from a variety of sources,” Bush said Monday.
Many Democrats, buoyed by midterm election results, say leaving the current Bush administration policy unchanged is unacceptable.
“The idea that we're going to have 140,000 troops in Iraq this time next year is just not reasonable,” Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said on NBC's Today show. Biden is in line to be the next chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
A look at the top options policymakers face:
Adding troops. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been one of the most prominent backers of beefing up U.S. forces in Iraq. McCain says more troops would help quell violence in Baghdad and eliminate the al-Qaeda-aligned insurgents in western Iraq.
“The consequences of failure are so severe that I will exhaust every possibility to try to fix this situation,” McCain, a GOP presidential hopeful in 2008, said Sunday on ABC's This Week.
Gen. John Abizaid, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, told McCain at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week that adding a large number of troops would stretch military resources and undercut efforts to have the Iraqi military take more responsibility for security.
Repositioning troops and changing their missions. This could involve having more U.S. troops acting as advisers to Iraqi units, something Abizaid and other military brass have said they support.
“It seems to me that the prudent course ahead is to keep the troop levels about where they are,” Abizaid said last week, and “increase the number of (U.S.) forces that are with Iraqi security forces to make them better, more confident.”
U.S. advisers to Iraqi units generally work in teams of 10 to 15 for each Iraqi battalion of 400 to 600 troops. Abizaid says he wants more trainers so they can work with smaller units.
Beginning to withdraw troops. Leading Democrats, including Biden and incoming Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin of Michigan, support this idea. Levin argues that a “phased redeployment” of U.S. troops in the next four to six months would push the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to crack down on militias and make other tough political decisions that would lead to a reduction in violence.
Abizaid says a withdrawal would undercut the Iraqi military and lead to more violence.
Talking with Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria. Baker has met with Syrian and Iranian officials and says the Bush administration should, too. “Our panel thinks it's important that we talk to representatives of surrounding governments,” Baker said in an interview in September.
The Bush administration has accused Iran and Syria of contributing to the violence in Iraq and has not held high-level talks with either nation.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday invited top officials of Iraq and Syria to Tehran for talks.
November 21, 2006
Pg. 12
Lawmakers on both sides, head of study group call for change
By Matt Kelley and Barbara Slavin, USA Today
WASHINGTON — Increased pressure from Congress and high level studies commissioned by the Pentagon and the White House are prodding President Bush to significantly change strategy in Iraq for the first time since the war began in March 2003.
A new Democratic majority in Congress, the imminent departure of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and a recent flurry of high-level studies have made conditions ripe for change.
The Pentagon, State Department and White House are exploring options for changing course in Iraq. The Iraq Study Group, led by former secretary of State James Baker and former Indiana congressman Lee Hamilton, is preparing to present its recommendations next month.
Bush said he is still weighing options. “I haven't made any decisions about troop increases or troop decreases, and won't until I hear from a variety of sources,” Bush said Monday.
Many Democrats, buoyed by midterm election results, say leaving the current Bush administration policy unchanged is unacceptable.
“The idea that we're going to have 140,000 troops in Iraq this time next year is just not reasonable,” Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said on NBC's Today show. Biden is in line to be the next chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
A look at the top options policymakers face:
Adding troops. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been one of the most prominent backers of beefing up U.S. forces in Iraq. McCain says more troops would help quell violence in Baghdad and eliminate the al-Qaeda-aligned insurgents in western Iraq.
“The consequences of failure are so severe that I will exhaust every possibility to try to fix this situation,” McCain, a GOP presidential hopeful in 2008, said Sunday on ABC's This Week.
Gen. John Abizaid, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, told McCain at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week that adding a large number of troops would stretch military resources and undercut efforts to have the Iraqi military take more responsibility for security.
Repositioning troops and changing their missions. This could involve having more U.S. troops acting as advisers to Iraqi units, something Abizaid and other military brass have said they support.
“It seems to me that the prudent course ahead is to keep the troop levels about where they are,” Abizaid said last week, and “increase the number of (U.S.) forces that are with Iraqi security forces to make them better, more confident.”
U.S. advisers to Iraqi units generally work in teams of 10 to 15 for each Iraqi battalion of 400 to 600 troops. Abizaid says he wants more trainers so they can work with smaller units.
Beginning to withdraw troops. Leading Democrats, including Biden and incoming Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin of Michigan, support this idea. Levin argues that a “phased redeployment” of U.S. troops in the next four to six months would push the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to crack down on militias and make other tough political decisions that would lead to a reduction in violence.
Abizaid says a withdrawal would undercut the Iraqi military and lead to more violence.
Talking with Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria. Baker has met with Syrian and Iranian officials and says the Bush administration should, too. “Our panel thinks it's important that we talk to representatives of surrounding governments,” Baker said in an interview in September.
The Bush administration has accused Iran and Syria of contributing to the violence in Iraq and has not held high-level talks with either nation.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday invited top officials of Iraq and Syria to Tehran for talks.