By DAVID ESPO, Associated Press Writer
September 10, 2007
WASHINGTON - The top U.S. general in Iraq outlined plans Monday
for the withdrawal of as many as 30,000 troops by next summer,
drawing praise from the White House but a chilly reception
from anti-war Democrats.
Gen. David Petraeus said a 2,000-member Marine unit would
return home this month without replacement in the first sizable
cut since a 2003 U.S-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein and
unleashed sectarian violence.
Further "force reductions will continue," he told
a nationally televised congressional hearing that was frequently
interrupted by anti-war protesters.
Petraeus said it would be "premature to make recommendations
on the pace," and he recommended that President Bush wait
until March 2008 to make any decisions.
The cuts he outlined would return the U.S. force appoximately
to levels in place when Bush ordered a buildup last winter
to allow the Iraqi government time to forge a reconciliation
among feuding factions.
Petraeus slid into the witness chair at a politically pivotal
moment in a war that has claimed the lives of more than 3,700
U.S. troops in more than four years. The Pentagon reported
nine deaths on Monday.
The president invited congressional leaders to a meeting Tuesday
at the White House, and is expected to make a nationwide speech
on the war in the next few days. White House press secretary
Tony Snow said Bush will place a lot of weight on his general's
recommendations.
Snow said Bush "liked what he heard last week" when
he was briefed on Petraeus' plans. "But he is commander
in chief and it will be up to him to make final determinations
about what he will recommend," the spokesman noted.
Inside the crowded congressional hearing room, Rep. Tom Lantos,
the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Petraeus
his proposal amounted to only a "token withdrawal" after
years of war.
"What I recommended was a very substantial withdrawal," the
general replied evenly from the witness chair, his uniform
adorned by four gleaming general's stars and nine rows of medals. "Five
Army brigade combat teams, a Marine Expeditionary Unit and
two Marine battalions represent a very significant force."
Petraeus referred only obliquely to political difficulties
in Iraq, saying, "Lack of adequate governmental capacity,
lingering sectarian mistrust and various forms of corruption
add to Iraq's challenges."
As for the much-maligned Iraqi military, he said it is slowly
gaining competence and gradually "taking on more responsibility
for their security."
Petraeus didn't say so, but Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the day's
only other witness, strongly suggested that the administration's
troop buildup had prevented a debacle.
Crocker said 2006 was a "bad year for Iraq. The country
came close to unraveling politically, economically and in security
terms. 2007 has brought improvement."
Petraeus is both the architect and the commander of last winter's
change in strategy, and private Republican polls show him with
greater public credibility that the president.
Majority Democrats returned from a summer vacation determined
to call for a troop withdrawal deadline, and the administration
has been laboring to prevent wholesale Republican defections.
In long-awaited testimony, the commanding general of the war
said last winter's buildup in U.S. troops had met its military
objectives "in large measure."
As a result, "I believe that we will be able to reduce
our forces to the pre-surge level ... by next summer without
jeopardizing the security gains we have fought so hard to achieve."
Outside the hearing room, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell
said he hoped Petraeus' testimony could lead to a bipartisan
consensus.
That seemed unlikely.
"This is simply unacceptable," House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi said in a written statement. Inside the hearing, Democratic
Rep. Robert Wexler of Florida told Petraeus that despite his
assessment, most independent experts say Bush's so-called surge
in troop strength has failed.
Criticized in advance by some opponents of the war, the general
went out of his way to proclaim his independence. "I wrote
this testimony myself. It has not been cleared by nor shared
with anyone in the Pentagon, the White House or the Congress," he
said.
Petraeus said the withdrawal of the Marine unit would be followed
in mid-December with the departure of an Army brigade numbering
3,500 to 4,000 soldiers.
After that, another four brigades would be withdrawn by July
2008, he said. That would leave the United States with about
130,000-135,000 troops in Iraq, although Petraeus was not precise
about whether some of the several thousand support troops sent
along with the extra combat forces would remain after July.
A few thousand additional military police, for example, were
sent to deal with extra detainees.
Petraeus conceded that improvements in security in Iraq were
uneven across the country.
Using 13 pages of colorful charts, he said, "The level
of security incidents has declined in eight of the past 12
weeks, with the level of incidents in the past two weeks the
lowest since June of 2006."
Ticking off some of the gains, he said, "We have disrupted
Shia militia extremists, capturing the head and numerous other
leaders of the Iranian-supported Special Groups, along with
a senior Lebanese Hezbollah operative supporting Iran's activities
in Iraq."
U.S. and Iraqi forces had dealt "significant blows to
al-Qaida-Iraq," he said, although he conceded that the
terrorist organization remains dangerous.
Despite Petraeus' generally optimistic report, the extent
of any improvement has been a matter of debate.
The Government Accountability Office, a congressional agency,
recently reported that Iraq has partially achieved only four
of 18 political and military goals.
Additionally, a formal National Intelligence Estimate by the
administration this summer said the Iraqi government is strained
by rampant violence and deep sectarian differences.
Bush and his political allies have worked forcefully in recent
weeks to shore up Republican support. The effort has included
television advertisements and a presidential visit to Anbar
province to highlight improved security in the vast western
stretches of Iraq.
Bush also called Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in the
hours before Petraeus spoke.
Despite the administration's efforts, fresh polls reflected
significant public opposition to the war.
An AP-Ipsos survey found that only 36 percent of those questioned
believe the troop increase has helped stabilize Iraq. That
was up only marginally from 32 percent in February, as the
buildup was beginning.
Even before the hearing began, anti-war protesters asserted
themselves.
MoveOn.org targeted Petraeus in a newspaper advertisement,
accusing him of "cooking the books" for the White
House. "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" it
asked, a wordplay on his name.
Nearly two dozen senators, all Republicans except for Sen.
Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, called on
Democrats to denounce the advertisement.
None did, although none stepped forward to defend it, y police.
"This is intolerable," said Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo.,
who chaired the hearing and was forced repeatedly to order
police to maintain order.
____
Associated Press writers Anne Flaherty, Robert Burns, Lolita
C. Baldor, Matthew Lee, Anne Gearan and Calvin Woodward contributed
to this story.
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