PDA

View Full Version : Top Commander Denounces Call for Iraq Withdrawal Deadline



thedrifter
11-16-05, 05:52 PM
Top Commander Denounces Call for Iraq Withdrawal Deadline
By Ellen Knickmeyer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, November 16, 2005; 3:32 PM

BAGHDAD, Nov. 16 -- A top American commander in Iraq on Wednesday denounced calls by some U.S. senators and others for a deadline on withdrawal from Iraq, calling that "a recipe for disaster" for the 2 -year-old war.

"Setting a date would mean that the 221 soldiers I've lost this year, that their lives will have been lost in vain," said Maj. Gen. William Webster, whose 3rd Infantry Division is responsible for security in three-fourths of Iraq's capital.

The comments came as the U.S. military Wednesday reported the deaths of six Marines in fighting in western Iraq.

Five Marines belonging to the 2nd Marine Division were killed during a firefight Wednesday in the town of New Ubaydi "while conducting combat operations against the enemy in support of Operation Steel Curtain," a statement said. It said 16 enemy fighters were confirmed killed in the battle.

Another Marine was killed by a suicide car bomb in combat Tuesday near Karmah on the outskirts of Fallujah, the military reported Wednesday.

No other details were provided on either engagement. The military said in a separate statement on Operation Steel Curtain that the fighting in the Ubaydi area involved "terrorists" from the group, al Qaeda in Iraq, headed by Jordanian Abu Musab Zarqawi. The statement said local residents helped identify 21 suspected terrorists hiding among civilians in a camp for displaced residents. It said Iraqi soldiers also caught one "al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist" attempting to evade detection at a New Ubaydi hospital by wearing women's clothing.

Webster's criticism of a withdrawal deadline referred to a Democratic proposal that would have required U.S. leaders to fix a rough date for pulling out the more than 140,000 Americans in Iraq. The proposal was defeated in the U.S. Senate Tuesday by a 58-40 vote.

Senate Republicans, however, joined Democrats in stepping up pressure on the White House to wind down the increasingly unpopular war, approving a measure setting 2006 as a "period of significant transition creating conditions for the phased redeployment of United States' forces from Iraq."

Signaling the intended timing of a withdrawal likely would only cue Iraq's armed factions to lie low for a time, gathering their strength and laying plans for renewed conflict when the Americans leave, Webster said.

In recent weeks, several Iraqi insurgent groups -- not including Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq -- have suggested a truce in return for a U.S. deadline on withdrawal, among other conditions.

U.S. military commanders have repeatedly insisted publicly that Americans should pull out in force only when Iraq's own security forces are capable of defending the government and country, among other benchmarks. President Bush has resisted demands for a timetable, despite his own falling popularity.

"Our troops are trying to get this accomplished," Webster told a small group of reporters. "They believe they're doing the right thing. The soldiers believe they're helping."

While the United States has an exit strategy from Iraq, Webster said, he believed leaders had yet to even privately fix a plan setting dates for phased withdrawals. "I think it's a recipe for disaster," he said of the demands for such deadlines. "Setting a date is a loser."

Webster, commander of Task Force Baghdad, is nearing the end of his second tour of duty in Iraq.

He addressed a reported statement by Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr that insurgents now were training in Iraq for attacks in other countries, saying he believed that is "a distinct possibility." Webster added he had not seen any evidence of Iraq being used as a training ground, or of any large-scale training camps.

Webster said U.S. forces in Baghdad have detained 81 foreign fighters in his year here. The "overwhelming majority" of them came from Syria, he said. The second-largest category of foreign detainees were those whose origin could not be determined, he said. Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Egypt accounted for the next three biggest shares of foreign fighters, in that order, he said.

Many Iraqis insist that almost all suicide attacks are carried out by foreigners, although authorities say Iraqis carried out last week's deadly suicide bombings in Jordan. The U.S. military has not tried to gauge how many of the bombers here are foreigners, he said.

"It's very hard for us to tell," he said. "In many cases we find pieces and parts."

Ellie