US Effort Undermined by Iraqi "Allies" in Gov't

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  • Nickdfresh
    SUPER MODERATOR

    • Oct 2004
    • 49563

    US Effort Undermined by Iraqi "Allies" in Gov't

    International Herald Tribune

    New U.S. report doubts Baghdad government's capability but finds progress in other parts of Iraq campaign

    The Associated Press
    Thursday, August 23, 2007

    WASHINGTON: U.S. intelligence agencies have written a mixed report on Iraq, finding some progress but indicating the Baghdad government may not be able to carry it forward, a defense official said Thursday.

    The National Intelligence Assessment on Iraq is due to be released Thursday afternoon. The official discussed it on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about it on the record.

    He said the report will find there has been "some progress with Sunnis" fighting against al-Qaida. Sunni insurgents in some areas have turned on al-Qaida in a program in which U.S. commanders negotiate cease-fires and try to incorporate the fighters into Iraqi government security forces.

    The report also warns, as some commanders on the ground have, that extremists could attempt sensational attacks to create a "mini-Tet"_ a reference to the 1968 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Tet offensive that undermined public support for the Vietnam War in the United States.

    Tet is the lunar new year.

    The assessment also expresses deep doubts that the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki can overcome sectarian divisions and meet benchmarks intended to promote political unity, The New York Times reported in Thursday editions. The report cited unidentified officials

    The assessment by the nation's 16 intelligence agencies comes at a time of renewed tension in relations between Washington and Baghdad.

    President George W. Bush had appeared on Tuesday to be distancing himself from the Iraqi leader when he said at a North American summit in Canada: "Clearly, the Iraqi government's got to do more." The White House denied Bush was backing away from al-Maliki, but it was a lukewarm endorsement compared with last November, when Bush called al-Maliki "the right guy for Iraq."

    Al-Maliki, on a trip to Syria, quickly lashed back at U.S. criticism. He called it "discourteous," said no one has the right to impose timetables on his elected government, and that Iraq can "find friends elsewhere."

    Under pressure to reaffirm his backing for the Iraqi leader, Bush said Wednesday that "Prime Minister Maliki is a good guy, good man with a difficult job, and I support him."

    Echoing the frustration of many in Washington, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said this week that progress on national issues had been "extremely disappointing and frustrating to all concerned."

    Slow political progress in Iraq is at the heart of the U.S. military troop buildup Bush announced in January. The president justified sending more troops to increase security and give Iraqi political leaders the breathing space to reconcile.

    Crocker and the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, are due to report next month on how much progress is being made with the buildup, which now has some 162,000 troops, the highest of the four-year-old war.
  • Nickdfresh
    SUPER MODERATOR

    • Oct 2004
    • 49563

    #2
    Sen. Warner: Iraq pullout should start in weeks

    WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The influential former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee has called on President Bush to start the process of bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq in September.

    Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican, said Thursday that a pullout was needed to spur Iraqi leaders to action.

    He has recommended Bush announce the beginning of a U.S. withdrawal in mid-September, after a report is released from the top U.S. officials in Iraq, and that those troops should be back in the United States by Christmas.

    "In my humble judgment, that would get everyone's attention -- the attention that is not being paid at this time," Warner said.

    He added: "I really, firmly believe the Iraqi government, under the leadership of Prime Minister [Nuri] al-Maliki, let our troops down." VideoWatch Warner say he wants Bush to send a 'sharp' message »

    In Texas, where Bush is on vacation, National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the White House appreciated Warner's advice. But he said the president would wait for the recommendations of Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, and the American ambassador in Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, before making any decisions.

    "That will be the time, in September, to hear these reports and then make decisions about the way ahead," Johndroe said.

    But he added, "I don't think that the president feels any differently about setting a specific timetable for withdrawal."

    Warner opposed Bush's January decision to send nearly 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq. But he has so far also opposed Democratic efforts to force Bush to start bringing U.S. troops home.

    The "surge" campaign was aimed at buying time for Iraq's government to reach a political solution to the sectarian and insurgent warfare that has racked the country since the U.S. invasion in 2003.

    The U.S. intelligence community's latest report on Iraq, released Thursday, found "measurable but uneven improvements" in security in recent months. However, it concluded that Iraq's political leaders "remain unable to govern effectively."

    But Johndroe said the report also found that U.S. troops have "really helped to improve the security situation on the ground."

    "If they were to leave anytime soon, those security gains could be lost," he said.

    Democrats have tried to wind down the war since taking over Congress in January, but Senate Republicans have used filibuster tactics to stymie those efforts.

    After Thursday's report, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called on Republican senators to join Democrats to force Bush to change course -- and a senior Democratic leadership aide urged Warner to add his vote to those efforts.

    "Will he [Warner] vote with us on anything? That is still the open and most important question," the aide said. "A recommendation to the president is different than voting for binding legislative language compelling the president to act."

    Warner is one of the most respected voices in the Senate on military and national security issues.

    Besides being a former Armed Services chairman, he was a secretary of the Navy in the 1970s. Warner served in the Navy in World War II and in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. He has been in the Senate for five consecutive terms.

    He and the current Armed Services chairman, Michigan Democrat Carl Levin, recently returned from a visit to Baghdad with harsh words for the al-Maliki government.

    Levin said Monday that Iraq's parliament should throw al-Maliki out of office and replace his government.

    Warner said he would not join that call. "But in no way do I criticize it," he added.

    Warner met at the White House earlier Thursday with Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the White House official responsible for coordinating Iraq issues.

    Warner said the president and other leading Bush administration officials have repeatedly said the American commitment to Iraq was not open-ended.

    "The time has come to put some meaningful teeth into those comments -- to back them up with some clear, decisive action," the senator said.

    All AboutIraq War • John Warner



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