Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Philadelphia Inquirer
April 20, 2007
By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press
FALLUJAH, Iraq - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates landed in Baghdad yesterday to deliver a sharp message to Iraqi political leaders: The U.S. military's commitment to the war is not open-ended.
"The clock is ticking," Gates told reporters, saying he would warn Iraqi officials that they must move faster on political reconciliation. "I know it's difficult, and clearly the attack on the council of representatives has made people nervous, but I think that it's very important that they bend every effort to getting this legislation done as quickly as possible."
A suicide bomber infiltrated the parliament building in the heavily fortified Green Zone a week ago, delivering a major blow to the U.S.-led effort to pacify the capital's streets.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called the violence in Baghdad an "open battle."
Gates, traveling to Iraq for the third time in four months, took a decidedly stronger stance this time, reflecting U.S. frustration and the political tumult in Washington, where President Bush and Congress are deadlocked over whether to set an end date for the war.
Gates stressed again, however, that the debate had been helpful in letting the Iraqis know that American patience with the war was ebbing. Democrats have seized on those remarks to bolster their arguments that there must be a deadline for the Pentagon to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq.
The last U.S. defense secretary to visit Fallujah, which until late 2004 was a key stronghold of the Sunni insurgency, was Donald H. Rumsfeld, who stopped here in December 2005 to announce a plan to begin reducing numbers of U.S. troops. Small reductions were made, but shortly afterward troop levels began climbing again. In February 2006 the devastating bombing of a mosque in Samarra, north of Baghdad, set off a wave of sectarian retribution and a surge of civilian deaths that scuttled U.S. plans to pull out more troops.
Gates said the Iraqis must, as quickly as possible, push through legislation on political reconciliation and the sharing of oil revenue among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.
"It's not that these laws are going to change the situation immediately," he said, "but I think . . . the ability to get them done communicates a willingness to work together."
Shortly after landing in Baghdad, Gates boarded a helicopter to Camp Fallujah, about 35 miles west of the capital. There, he met with top military commanders, including the Joint Chiefs chairman, Gen. Peter Pace, and the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David Petraeus.
There commanders agreed that the recent uptick in violence was troublesome, occurring just as they were starting to see some improvements.
Gates' visit comes one day after Iraq's bloodiest day since the U.S. troop buildup ordered by Bush began nine weeks ago. On Wednesday, attacks across the country killed more than 200.
"Yesterday was a bad day; there's no two ways about it," Petraeus said, "and a day like that can have a real psychological impact, and it came at a time where frankly . . . [we] felt like we were getting a bit of traction."
Petraeus added that while improvements could be almost imperceptible, there had been slow progress both in Anbar province and with the Baghdad security plan. He said that after meeting with Iraqi leaders Wednesday and yesterday, he believed they were determined to calm their people and press on.
Commanders also expressed little support for withdrawing troops in the coming months.
Brig. Gen. Mark Gurganus, commander of ground forces in Anbar, said he had seen progress in western Iraq, including a decrease in attacks and an increase in recruitment of Iraqi police and army soldiers.
Reducing his forces, he said, could erase the gains. "Would it have an adverse impact?" he asked. "Absolutely."
Three of the five brigades Bush ordered into Iraq to stem Baghdad violence have arrived, bringing U.S. forces in the country to 146,000. Officials want the rest in place by June, for a total of 160,000.
Soon afterward, they plan to assess how much longer the higher troop level - about 30,000 more than before the buildup - will be needed.
April 20, 2007
By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press
FALLUJAH, Iraq - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates landed in Baghdad yesterday to deliver a sharp message to Iraqi political leaders: The U.S. military's commitment to the war is not open-ended.
"The clock is ticking," Gates told reporters, saying he would warn Iraqi officials that they must move faster on political reconciliation. "I know it's difficult, and clearly the attack on the council of representatives has made people nervous, but I think that it's very important that they bend every effort to getting this legislation done as quickly as possible."
A suicide bomber infiltrated the parliament building in the heavily fortified Green Zone a week ago, delivering a major blow to the U.S.-led effort to pacify the capital's streets.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called the violence in Baghdad an "open battle."
Gates, traveling to Iraq for the third time in four months, took a decidedly stronger stance this time, reflecting U.S. frustration and the political tumult in Washington, where President Bush and Congress are deadlocked over whether to set an end date for the war.
Gates stressed again, however, that the debate had been helpful in letting the Iraqis know that American patience with the war was ebbing. Democrats have seized on those remarks to bolster their arguments that there must be a deadline for the Pentagon to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq.
The last U.S. defense secretary to visit Fallujah, which until late 2004 was a key stronghold of the Sunni insurgency, was Donald H. Rumsfeld, who stopped here in December 2005 to announce a plan to begin reducing numbers of U.S. troops. Small reductions were made, but shortly afterward troop levels began climbing again. In February 2006 the devastating bombing of a mosque in Samarra, north of Baghdad, set off a wave of sectarian retribution and a surge of civilian deaths that scuttled U.S. plans to pull out more troops.
Gates said the Iraqis must, as quickly as possible, push through legislation on political reconciliation and the sharing of oil revenue among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.
"It's not that these laws are going to change the situation immediately," he said, "but I think . . . the ability to get them done communicates a willingness to work together."
Shortly after landing in Baghdad, Gates boarded a helicopter to Camp Fallujah, about 35 miles west of the capital. There, he met with top military commanders, including the Joint Chiefs chairman, Gen. Peter Pace, and the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David Petraeus.
There commanders agreed that the recent uptick in violence was troublesome, occurring just as they were starting to see some improvements.
Gates' visit comes one day after Iraq's bloodiest day since the U.S. troop buildup ordered by Bush began nine weeks ago. On Wednesday, attacks across the country killed more than 200.
"Yesterday was a bad day; there's no two ways about it," Petraeus said, "and a day like that can have a real psychological impact, and it came at a time where frankly . . . [we] felt like we were getting a bit of traction."
Petraeus added that while improvements could be almost imperceptible, there had been slow progress both in Anbar province and with the Baghdad security plan. He said that after meeting with Iraqi leaders Wednesday and yesterday, he believed they were determined to calm their people and press on.
Commanders also expressed little support for withdrawing troops in the coming months.
Brig. Gen. Mark Gurganus, commander of ground forces in Anbar, said he had seen progress in western Iraq, including a decrease in attacks and an increase in recruitment of Iraqi police and army soldiers.
Reducing his forces, he said, could erase the gains. "Would it have an adverse impact?" he asked. "Absolutely."
Three of the five brigades Bush ordered into Iraq to stem Baghdad violence have arrived, bringing U.S. forces in the country to 146,000. Officials want the rest in place by June, for a total of 160,000.
Soon afterward, they plan to assess how much longer the higher troop level - about 30,000 more than before the buildup - will be needed.