Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
National Journal's CongressDailyAM
January 23, 2007
The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to approve Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus to lead military operations in Iraq after his confirmation hearing today, but not before several members grill him on President Bush's unpopular new war strategy.
Bush's plans to send 21,500 more troops to quell violence in the increasingly turbulent country will be the central issue at the hearing. But aides and lawmakers said Monday committee members will not pin that decision directly on Petraeus.
"I think most people try to separate the person from the strategy," a Senate aide said. "It is clearly the president's strategy and [Petraeus] has been given military orders to execute it."
Many Republicans and Democrats alike have strongly opposed Bush's plan, including Sen. John Warner, R-Va., the former Senate Armed Services chairman who on Monday released a nonbinding resolution urging the president to suspend his troop "surge" and consider other options to stop the violence in Iraq.
While the Iraq debate will "have an impact on confirmation proceedings," the Senate will quickly confirm Petraeus for the four-star post, Warner predicted Monday.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, an Armed Services committee member who has opposed sending more troops to Iraq and co-wrote the Warner resolution, said she viewed the hearings as "an opportunity for the general to lay out his vision" for success in Iraq.
Committee members, she added, will not try to delay his confirmation because of their mounting discontent over the war plan.
If confirmed, Petraeus will take over for Gen. George Casey, who the White House has nominated for Army chief of staff.
The Senate committee has not yet scheduled Casey's confirmation hearing, but it will generate more fireworks than today's proceedings. Indeed, McCain said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he may oppose Casey's nomination because his term in Iraq has been marked by "failed leadership."
Still, Petraeus will field some "very tough questions" before he gets a green light from the panel, another aide said.
Committee members who oppose the plan likely will urge Petraeus to keep them abreast of whether the president's strategy is working, and will press him on how long it will take to turn control over the country over to the Iraqis.
Meanwhile, senators supportive of the plan, including Senate Armed Services ranking member John McCain, R-Ariz., may focus on whether resolutions rejecting the surge strategy will send a negative message to both the U.S. military and Iraqis, aides said.
Over the last several days, members in both chambers and from both sides of the aisle have introduced a variety of measures decrying the new war strategy.
Warner said he would likely offer his language as a substitute measure to Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Biden's non-binding resolution, which states it is not in the "national interest" to "deepen its military involvement in Iraq."
Warner, who based his language on the findings of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, said he believes U.S. troops should not get involved in the sectarian violence that has plagued Baghdad. The resolution, however, does leave open the possibility of increasing the number of U.S. troops deployed to Anbar province, a target for al-Qaida and foreign fighters.
"I feel ever so strongly that the American GI was not trained, not sent over there, certainly not by resolution of this institution, to be placed in the middle of a fight between the Sunni and the Shia and the wanton and just incomprehensible killing that's going on at this time," Warner said.
--Megan Scully
January 23, 2007
The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to approve Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus to lead military operations in Iraq after his confirmation hearing today, but not before several members grill him on President Bush's unpopular new war strategy.
Bush's plans to send 21,500 more troops to quell violence in the increasingly turbulent country will be the central issue at the hearing. But aides and lawmakers said Monday committee members will not pin that decision directly on Petraeus.
"I think most people try to separate the person from the strategy," a Senate aide said. "It is clearly the president's strategy and [Petraeus] has been given military orders to execute it."
Many Republicans and Democrats alike have strongly opposed Bush's plan, including Sen. John Warner, R-Va., the former Senate Armed Services chairman who on Monday released a nonbinding resolution urging the president to suspend his troop "surge" and consider other options to stop the violence in Iraq.
While the Iraq debate will "have an impact on confirmation proceedings," the Senate will quickly confirm Petraeus for the four-star post, Warner predicted Monday.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, an Armed Services committee member who has opposed sending more troops to Iraq and co-wrote the Warner resolution, said she viewed the hearings as "an opportunity for the general to lay out his vision" for success in Iraq.
Committee members, she added, will not try to delay his confirmation because of their mounting discontent over the war plan.
If confirmed, Petraeus will take over for Gen. George Casey, who the White House has nominated for Army chief of staff.
The Senate committee has not yet scheduled Casey's confirmation hearing, but it will generate more fireworks than today's proceedings. Indeed, McCain said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he may oppose Casey's nomination because his term in Iraq has been marked by "failed leadership."
Still, Petraeus will field some "very tough questions" before he gets a green light from the panel, another aide said.
Committee members who oppose the plan likely will urge Petraeus to keep them abreast of whether the president's strategy is working, and will press him on how long it will take to turn control over the country over to the Iraqis.
Meanwhile, senators supportive of the plan, including Senate Armed Services ranking member John McCain, R-Ariz., may focus on whether resolutions rejecting the surge strategy will send a negative message to both the U.S. military and Iraqis, aides said.
Over the last several days, members in both chambers and from both sides of the aisle have introduced a variety of measures decrying the new war strategy.
Warner said he would likely offer his language as a substitute measure to Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Biden's non-binding resolution, which states it is not in the "national interest" to "deepen its military involvement in Iraq."
Warner, who based his language on the findings of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, said he believes U.S. troops should not get involved in the sectarian violence that has plagued Baghdad. The resolution, however, does leave open the possibility of increasing the number of U.S. troops deployed to Anbar province, a target for al-Qaida and foreign fighters.
"I feel ever so strongly that the American GI was not trained, not sent over there, certainly not by resolution of this institution, to be placed in the middle of a fight between the Sunni and the Shia and the wanton and just incomprehensible killing that's going on at this time," Warner said.
--Megan Scully