LoungeMachine
08-03-2006, 09:33 PM
August 3, 2006
Pentagon Generals Warn of Iraq Civil War
Two Top Pentagon Commanders Warn Violence in Iraq Could Propel Into a Civil War
By ANNE PLUMMER FLAHERTY
WASHINGTON Aug 3, 2006 (AP)— Two top Pentagon commanders said Thursday that spiraling violence in Baghdad could propel Iraq into outright civil war, using a politically loaded term that the Bush administration has long avoided.
The generals said they believe a full-scale civil war is unlikely. Even so, their comments to Congress cast the war in more somber hues than the administration usually uses, and further dampened lawmakers' hopes that troops would begin returning home in substantial numbers from the widely unpopular war in time for this fall's elections.
"I believe that the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I have seen it, in Baghdad in particular, and that if not stopped it is possible that Iraq could move toward civil war," Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the senators, "We do have the possibility of that devolving into civil war."
White House press secretary Tony Snow, flying with President Bush to Texas aboard Air Force One, said the generals had "reiterated something we've talked about on a number of occasions, which is the importance of securing Baghdad, which is why … you're going to see more and more of a troop presence in Baghdad. … Obviously, sectarian violence is a concern."
Asked specifically about the generals' comments about a civil war, Snow said, "OK, well, I don't think the president is going to quibble with his generals on their characterizations."
Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld have steadfastly refused to call the situation in Iraq a civil war, although Rumsfeld at a news conference on Wednesday acknowledged that the violence was increasing.
Asked whether the United States would continue to have a military mission in Iraq in the event that a major civil war broke out, Rumsfeld declined to respond directly, saying he didn't want to give the impression that he presumed there would be a civil war. He said the question must ultimately be handled by the Iraqis.
Pentagon Generals Warn of Iraq Civil War
Two Top Pentagon Commanders Warn Violence in Iraq Could Propel Into a Civil War
By ANNE PLUMMER FLAHERTY
WASHINGTON Aug 3, 2006 (AP)— Two top Pentagon commanders said Thursday that spiraling violence in Baghdad could propel Iraq into outright civil war, using a politically loaded term that the Bush administration has long avoided.
The generals said they believe a full-scale civil war is unlikely. Even so, their comments to Congress cast the war in more somber hues than the administration usually uses, and further dampened lawmakers' hopes that troops would begin returning home in substantial numbers from the widely unpopular war in time for this fall's elections.
"I believe that the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I have seen it, in Baghdad in particular, and that if not stopped it is possible that Iraq could move toward civil war," Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the senators, "We do have the possibility of that devolving into civil war."
White House press secretary Tony Snow, flying with President Bush to Texas aboard Air Force One, said the generals had "reiterated something we've talked about on a number of occasions, which is the importance of securing Baghdad, which is why … you're going to see more and more of a troop presence in Baghdad. … Obviously, sectarian violence is a concern."
Asked specifically about the generals' comments about a civil war, Snow said, "OK, well, I don't think the president is going to quibble with his generals on their characterizations."
Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld have steadfastly refused to call the situation in Iraq a civil war, although Rumsfeld at a news conference on Wednesday acknowledged that the violence was increasing.
Asked whether the United States would continue to have a military mission in Iraq in the event that a major civil war broke out, Rumsfeld declined to respond directly, saying he didn't want to give the impression that he presumed there would be a civil war. He said the question must ultimately be handled by the Iraqis.