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September 9, 2007
Biden Faults Petraeus' Assessment
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:26 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's war strategy is failing and the top
military commander in Iraq is ''dead flat wrong'' for warning against major
changes, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
said Sunday.
Ahead of two days of crucial testimony by Bush's leading military and
political advisers on Iraq, Sen. Joseph Biden indicated that he and other
Democrats would persist in efforts to set target dates for bringing troops
home.
''The reality is that, although there has been some mild progress on the
security front, there is, in fact, no real security in Baghdad or Anbar
province, where I was dealing with the most serious problem, sectarian
violence,'' said Biden, a 2008 presidential candidate who recently returned
from Iraq.
Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker were scheduled to testify
before four congressional committees, including Biden's, on Monday and
Tuesday. Lawmakers will hear how the commander and the diplomat assess
progress in Iraq and offer recommendations about the course of war strategy.
Officials familiar with their thinking told The Associated Press over the
weekend that the advisers would urge Congress not to make significant
changes. Their report will note that while national political progress has
been disappointing, security gains in local areas have shown promise,
according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they
were discussing internal deliberations.
Petraeus and Crocker will say the buildup of 30,000 troops, which bring the
current U.S. total to nearly 170,000, is working better than any previous
effort to quell the insurgency and restore stability. The officials also
disputed suggestions that Petraeus and Crocker would recommend anything more
than a symbolic reduction in troop levels and then only in the spring.
The testimony sets the stage for an announcement by Bush later in the week
about how he will proceed in the face of widespread public unhappiness and
growing congressional discomfort with the war.
Biden, signaling that tough questioning awaits the pair from majority
Democrats and moderate Republicans, said Petraeus' assessment missed the
point. Biden, D-Del., said focusing on a political solution, such as by
creating more local control, was the only way to foster national
reconciliation among warring factions.
''I really respect him, and I think he's dead flat wrong,'' Biden said.
Biden contended that Bush's main strategy was to buy time and extend the
troop presence in Iraq long enough to push the burden onto the next
president, who takes office in January 2009, to fix the sectarian strife.
'' This president has no plan...how to win and/or how to leave ,'' Biden
said.
Stressing that a political solution was the key, he said, ''I will insist on
a firm beginning to withdraw the troops and I will insist on a target date
to get American combat forces out,'' except for those necessary to protect
U.S. civilians and fight al-Qaida.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., agreed. ''The problem is, if you don't have a
deadline and you don't require something of the Iraqis, they're simply going
to use our presence as cover for their willingness to delay, which is what
they have done month after month after month,'' he said.
''I think the general will present the facts with respect to the statistics
and the tactical successes or situations as he sees them,'' Kerry said.
''But none of us should be fooled -- not the American people, not you in the
media, not us in Congress -- we should not be fooled into this tactical
success debate.''
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he respects the judgment of Petraeus but
will not blindly follow his assessment.
''We're going to look behind the generalizations that General Petraeus or
anybody gives us and probe the very hard facts to see exactly what the
situation is,'' Specter said. ''As I've said in the past, unless we see some
light at the end of the tunnel here, very closely examining what General
Petraeus and others have to say, I think there's a general sense that there
needs to be a new policy.''
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said it would be foolish for Congress to try
and second-guess commanders on the ground.
In the end, Graham said, the U.S. cannot afford to withdraw prematurely if
it is military unwise and risks plunging the region into more chaos.
''If the general tells me down the road we can withdraw troops because of
military success, we should all celebrate it,'' Graham said. ''But if
politicians in Washington pick an arbitrary date, an arbitrary number to
withdraw, it's not going to push Baghdad politicians.
''It's going to re-energize an enemy that's on the mat,'' he said.
Biden Faults Petraeus' Assessment
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:26 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's war strategy is failing and the top
military commander in Iraq is ''dead flat wrong'' for warning against major
changes, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
said Sunday.
Ahead of two days of crucial testimony by Bush's leading military and
political advisers on Iraq, Sen. Joseph Biden indicated that he and other
Democrats would persist in efforts to set target dates for bringing troops
home.
''The reality is that, although there has been some mild progress on the
security front, there is, in fact, no real security in Baghdad or Anbar
province, where I was dealing with the most serious problem, sectarian
violence,'' said Biden, a 2008 presidential candidate who recently returned
from Iraq.
Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker were scheduled to testify
before four congressional committees, including Biden's, on Monday and
Tuesday. Lawmakers will hear how the commander and the diplomat assess
progress in Iraq and offer recommendations about the course of war strategy.
Officials familiar with their thinking told The Associated Press over the
weekend that the advisers would urge Congress not to make significant
changes. Their report will note that while national political progress has
been disappointing, security gains in local areas have shown promise,
according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they
were discussing internal deliberations.
Petraeus and Crocker will say the buildup of 30,000 troops, which bring the
current U.S. total to nearly 170,000, is working better than any previous
effort to quell the insurgency and restore stability. The officials also
disputed suggestions that Petraeus and Crocker would recommend anything more
than a symbolic reduction in troop levels and then only in the spring.
The testimony sets the stage for an announcement by Bush later in the week
about how he will proceed in the face of widespread public unhappiness and
growing congressional discomfort with the war.
Biden, signaling that tough questioning awaits the pair from majority
Democrats and moderate Republicans, said Petraeus' assessment missed the
point. Biden, D-Del., said focusing on a political solution, such as by
creating more local control, was the only way to foster national
reconciliation among warring factions.
''I really respect him, and I think he's dead flat wrong,'' Biden said.
Biden contended that Bush's main strategy was to buy time and extend the
troop presence in Iraq long enough to push the burden onto the next
president, who takes office in January 2009, to fix the sectarian strife.
'' This president has no plan...how to win and/or how to leave ,'' Biden
said.
Stressing that a political solution was the key, he said, ''I will insist on
a firm beginning to withdraw the troops and I will insist on a target date
to get American combat forces out,'' except for those necessary to protect
U.S. civilians and fight al-Qaida.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., agreed. ''The problem is, if you don't have a
deadline and you don't require something of the Iraqis, they're simply going
to use our presence as cover for their willingness to delay, which is what
they have done month after month after month,'' he said.
''I think the general will present the facts with respect to the statistics
and the tactical successes or situations as he sees them,'' Kerry said.
''But none of us should be fooled -- not the American people, not you in the
media, not us in Congress -- we should not be fooled into this tactical
success debate.''
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he respects the judgment of Petraeus but
will not blindly follow his assessment.
''We're going to look behind the generalizations that General Petraeus or
anybody gives us and probe the very hard facts to see exactly what the
situation is,'' Specter said. ''As I've said in the past, unless we see some
light at the end of the tunnel here, very closely examining what General
Petraeus and others have to say, I think there's a general sense that there
needs to be a new policy.''
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said it would be foolish for Congress to try
and second-guess commanders on the ground.
In the end, Graham said, the U.S. cannot afford to withdraw prematurely if
it is military unwise and risks plunging the region into more chaos.
''If the general tells me down the road we can withdraw troops because of
military success, we should all celebrate it,'' Graham said. ''But if
politicians in Washington pick an arbitrary date, an arbitrary number to
withdraw, it's not going to push Baghdad politicians.
''It's going to re-energize an enemy that's on the mat,'' he said.
