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April 8, 2008

Update: Petraeus calls progress in Basra "fragile"

WASHINGTON -- As the top U.S. military officer in Iraq reported “significant, but uneven security progress” in the war there, Ariz. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, warned against Democratic efforts to force troop withdrawals, saying “Congress must not choose to lose in Iraq.”

McCain called for sustaining American military support of the fledgling Iraqi government and rejecting what he called “a reckless and irresponsible withdrawal of our troops.”

But Democrats made clear today at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee that they will continue to press the Bush Administration for a change of course in Iraq that includes major withdrawals of troops –– even though they lack the votes for Senate passage of such a policy.

The hearing was briefly interrupted when a protestor shouting, "Bring them home," had to be escorted from the room at about 10:43 a.m. Some audience members clapped.

Extra:Live video of the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who chairs the panel, said the only way to force the Iraqi government to take the political steps necessary for political reconciliation and stability is “to adopt a reasonable timetable for a change of mission and redeployment of most of our troops.”

"Promptly shifting responsibility to Iraqis for their own future –– politically, militarily, economically –– is the best hope for a successful outcome in Iraq and represents, finally, an exit strategy for most of our troops,” he said.

As McCain and Levin laid out the opposing partisan viewpoints, the commander of U.S. ground troops in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker made their first of several appearances on Capitol Hill this week to update Congress on the status of the war in Iraq.

Petraeus told the committee that since his last testimony in September, “levels of violence and civilian deaths have been reduced substantially.” Al-Queada and other terrorist groups “have been dealt serious blows,” he said, and Iraqi government forces have significantly improved their position.

But in reference to a failed government defensive late last month against Shiite militia groups in the southern port city of Basra, Petraeus said the progress made since last spring is “fragile and reversible.”

A major point in testimony by Petraeus and Crocker is the potential need for a pause this summer in the long-scheduled reduction of troop strength in Iraq.

-- Journal Washington bureau chief John E. Mulligan

Posted by Brandie Jefferson  at 10:47 AM | Permalink

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