Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
January 15, 2007
By David S. Cloud
LONDON, Jan. 14 — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates met with Prime Minister Tony Blair here late Sunday on the first stop of a weeklong trip to Europe and the Middle East aimed at winning support for the White House plan for stabilizing Iraq.
Though the centerpiece of the plan involves sending more than 20,000 additional American troops, Mr. Gates sounded out Mr. Blair and other senior British officials on whether they planned to begin withdrawing some of their roughly 7,000 troops from Iraq sometime this year, a senior American defense official told reporters traveling with Mr. Gates.
Mr. Gates also briefed Mr. Blair and Defense Minister Des Browne on the Bush plan and discussed the possibility of Britain’s sending additional troops to Afghanistan, where it currently has around 5,000 soldiers deployed as part of a NATO contingent in the south.
Mr. Gates and Mr. Browne held nearly two hours of talks on Iraq and said they planned to continue them over dinner. “We’ve had a good conversation about Iraq, and I look forward to talking further about Afghanistan, where I am headed in a few days,” Mr. Gates told reporters.
He will stop in Afghanistan and Iraq on this trip, the senior official said.
Earlier, Mr. Gates described his goal for the meeting, saying, “My first priority is making sure that we preserve the gains we’ve made in Afghanistan and then talking about the way forward in Iraq.”
While in the Middle East, Mr. Gates is planning stops for talks with officials in several of Iraq’s neighbors. The senior defense official said his aim would be to get other countries in the region to follow through on pledges to provide Iraq with reconstruction aid.
President Bush’s plan to increase troop levels is accompanied by a renewed push to undertake reconstruction projects in Baghdad. “A lot of countries have made financial commitments to help Iraq that have not delivered on those,” the official said.
The official bluntly warned Persian Gulf allies worried about the growing power of Iran that they needed to help American efforts to stabilize Iraq by following through with aid pledges, or there would be consequences.
“These countries have been supportive in some ways but they need to understand the consequences of sitting on the sidelines,” the official said. “If they are concerned about Iran there are consequences for sitting on the sidelines with respect to Iraq.”
The official did not specify the consequences but the warning was part of a tougher stance against Iran, which American officials say is a critical part of the effort to stabilize Iraq. President Bush recently authorized American military forces to go after what officials described as Iranian-backed networks supplying insurgents with bombs in Iraq.
British officials have said that they are preparing to hand responsibility for security to the Iraqis later this year and that they could begin making withdrawals of their troops now deployed in southern Iraq, though they have not provided a timetable.
The possibility of British withdrawals at the same time that the United States is raising its troop levels reflects the different security conditions in and around Basra, where Britain has most of its troops, the senior official said.
The more episodic violence in Basra is largely between competing Shiite groups, unlike the primarily sectarian attacks between Shiites and Sunnis seen in Baghdad.
“I think they are making a judgment based on circumstances where they are,” the senior official said, explaining the possibility of Britain’s withdrawing forces. The official added that Mr. Gates “wanted to hear more” from British officials and commanders about their plans.
But the divergence between Washington and London also appears to reflect the unpopularity of the Iraq war in Britain and the government’s judgment that continuing its present force levels in Iraq may be impossible now that it is also heavily engaged in Afghanistan.
More than 5,000 British troops are now deployed there, a level that jumped when NATO took over primary responsibility for security in the south, and it may be increased this year.
January 15, 2007
By David S. Cloud
LONDON, Jan. 14 — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates met with Prime Minister Tony Blair here late Sunday on the first stop of a weeklong trip to Europe and the Middle East aimed at winning support for the White House plan for stabilizing Iraq.
Though the centerpiece of the plan involves sending more than 20,000 additional American troops, Mr. Gates sounded out Mr. Blair and other senior British officials on whether they planned to begin withdrawing some of their roughly 7,000 troops from Iraq sometime this year, a senior American defense official told reporters traveling with Mr. Gates.
Mr. Gates also briefed Mr. Blair and Defense Minister Des Browne on the Bush plan and discussed the possibility of Britain’s sending additional troops to Afghanistan, where it currently has around 5,000 soldiers deployed as part of a NATO contingent in the south.
Mr. Gates and Mr. Browne held nearly two hours of talks on Iraq and said they planned to continue them over dinner. “We’ve had a good conversation about Iraq, and I look forward to talking further about Afghanistan, where I am headed in a few days,” Mr. Gates told reporters.
He will stop in Afghanistan and Iraq on this trip, the senior official said.
Earlier, Mr. Gates described his goal for the meeting, saying, “My first priority is making sure that we preserve the gains we’ve made in Afghanistan and then talking about the way forward in Iraq.”
While in the Middle East, Mr. Gates is planning stops for talks with officials in several of Iraq’s neighbors. The senior defense official said his aim would be to get other countries in the region to follow through on pledges to provide Iraq with reconstruction aid.
President Bush’s plan to increase troop levels is accompanied by a renewed push to undertake reconstruction projects in Baghdad. “A lot of countries have made financial commitments to help Iraq that have not delivered on those,” the official said.
The official bluntly warned Persian Gulf allies worried about the growing power of Iran that they needed to help American efforts to stabilize Iraq by following through with aid pledges, or there would be consequences.
“These countries have been supportive in some ways but they need to understand the consequences of sitting on the sidelines,” the official said. “If they are concerned about Iran there are consequences for sitting on the sidelines with respect to Iraq.”
The official did not specify the consequences but the warning was part of a tougher stance against Iran, which American officials say is a critical part of the effort to stabilize Iraq. President Bush recently authorized American military forces to go after what officials described as Iranian-backed networks supplying insurgents with bombs in Iraq.
British officials have said that they are preparing to hand responsibility for security to the Iraqis later this year and that they could begin making withdrawals of their troops now deployed in southern Iraq, though they have not provided a timetable.
The possibility of British withdrawals at the same time that the United States is raising its troop levels reflects the different security conditions in and around Basra, where Britain has most of its troops, the senior official said.
The more episodic violence in Basra is largely between competing Shiite groups, unlike the primarily sectarian attacks between Shiites and Sunnis seen in Baghdad.
“I think they are making a judgment based on circumstances where they are,” the senior official said, explaining the possibility of Britain’s withdrawing forces. The official added that Mr. Gates “wanted to hear more” from British officials and commanders about their plans.
But the divergence between Washington and London also appears to reflect the unpopularity of the Iraq war in Britain and the government’s judgment that continuing its present force levels in Iraq may be impossible now that it is also heavily engaged in Afghanistan.
More than 5,000 British troops are now deployed there, a level that jumped when NATO took over primary responsibility for security in the south, and it may be increased this year.