thedrifter
11-15-06, 03:19 PM
November 15, 2006
Senators rap Abizaid’s stance on force size
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Lawmakers expecting to hear some fresh ideas from the military about Iraq policy following the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were disappointed Wednesday.
At a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill, Gen. John P. Abizaid, the U.S. Central Command commander, endorsed the current strategy and the size of the U.S. deployment, saying he wouldn’t recommend anything other than a small and temporary increase in the number of U.S. personnel assigned to Iraqi army units to help them carry out operations.
While sketchy on the details, Abizaid said Iraq’s security forces might be ready quickly to have primary responsibility for security if the U.S. expanded the number of American troops assigned to transition teams.
Facing questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee about increasing or decreasing troop levels to either try to get a handle on continuing street violence or try to get U.S. personnel out of danger, Abizaid said he wouldn’t like to see any major changes.
“Our troop posture needs to stay where it is,” he said.
Democrats, chiefly Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, who will become committee chairman in January, have pushed for a timetable of withdrawals that would give the emerging Iraqi government four to six months before the U.S. began pulling out troops. Abizaid said he opposed that idea. “Under current circumstances, I would not recommend troop withdrawals.”
Abizaid said, specifically, that he opposed a timetable for withdrawal or a cap on the number of troops, two options being discussed for how Congress could sway Iraq policy when it is the executive branch that holds most of the power.
Democrats have been pushing the Bush administration for major changes in policy. “America has given the Iraqi people the opportunity to build a new nation at the cost of nearly 3,000 American lives and over 20,000 wounded,” Levin said. “The American people do not want our valiant troops to get caught in a crossfire between Iraqis if Iraqis insist on squandering that opportunity through civil war and sectarian strife.”
But it wasn’t just Democrats who expected to hear more out of Abizaid. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who will become the committee’s senior Republican in January, said he found the general’s testimony lacking. McCain said he was “disappointed that you are basically advocating the status quo here today.”
Abizaid said he believes the security situation has improved some since October, but McCain said he was skeptical and Sen. John Warner, R-Va., the current Armed Services Committee chairman, expressed concerns that life could be more dangerous for troops because of a complicated command structure set up so troops can be ordered to conduct operations by either U.S. forces or the interim Iraqi government.
While sensing things are improving, Abizaid said he also recognizes that progress needs to be made, especially in decreasing sectarian violence on the streets “in the next several months” to avoid a possibly irreversible cycle of violence. Pressed on what that meant, he said progress was needed within six months.
Ellie
Senators rap Abizaid’s stance on force size
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Lawmakers expecting to hear some fresh ideas from the military about Iraq policy following the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were disappointed Wednesday.
At a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill, Gen. John P. Abizaid, the U.S. Central Command commander, endorsed the current strategy and the size of the U.S. deployment, saying he wouldn’t recommend anything other than a small and temporary increase in the number of U.S. personnel assigned to Iraqi army units to help them carry out operations.
While sketchy on the details, Abizaid said Iraq’s security forces might be ready quickly to have primary responsibility for security if the U.S. expanded the number of American troops assigned to transition teams.
Facing questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee about increasing or decreasing troop levels to either try to get a handle on continuing street violence or try to get U.S. personnel out of danger, Abizaid said he wouldn’t like to see any major changes.
“Our troop posture needs to stay where it is,” he said.
Democrats, chiefly Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, who will become committee chairman in January, have pushed for a timetable of withdrawals that would give the emerging Iraqi government four to six months before the U.S. began pulling out troops. Abizaid said he opposed that idea. “Under current circumstances, I would not recommend troop withdrawals.”
Abizaid said, specifically, that he opposed a timetable for withdrawal or a cap on the number of troops, two options being discussed for how Congress could sway Iraq policy when it is the executive branch that holds most of the power.
Democrats have been pushing the Bush administration for major changes in policy. “America has given the Iraqi people the opportunity to build a new nation at the cost of nearly 3,000 American lives and over 20,000 wounded,” Levin said. “The American people do not want our valiant troops to get caught in a crossfire between Iraqis if Iraqis insist on squandering that opportunity through civil war and sectarian strife.”
But it wasn’t just Democrats who expected to hear more out of Abizaid. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who will become the committee’s senior Republican in January, said he found the general’s testimony lacking. McCain said he was “disappointed that you are basically advocating the status quo here today.”
Abizaid said he believes the security situation has improved some since October, but McCain said he was skeptical and Sen. John Warner, R-Va., the current Armed Services Committee chairman, expressed concerns that life could be more dangerous for troops because of a complicated command structure set up so troops can be ordered to conduct operations by either U.S. forces or the interim Iraqi government.
While sensing things are improving, Abizaid said he also recognizes that progress needs to be made, especially in decreasing sectarian violence on the streets “in the next several months” to avoid a possibly irreversible cycle of violence. Pressed on what that meant, he said progress was needed within six months.
Ellie