Generals See Hope for Troop Reductions by Fall

[Wretched Excess]

this one cuts both ways.

troop reductions would tend to undermine the democrats stance against the war in november,
but a safer world also makes it seem much less insane to elect a blundering, idiotic neophyte
president.

Generals See Hope for Troop Reductions by Fall

WASHINGTON — President Bush’s nominees to serve as commander of forces in the Middle East and as the senior commander in Baghdad offered a cautiously optimistic picture of the situation in Iraq on Thursday. They said modest troop reductions may be possible in the fall, and that there was probably no need for the United States to take extra security steps for provincial elections now expected in November.

“I do believe that there will be certain assets that, as we are already looking at the picture right now, we’ll be able to recommend can be either redeployed or not deployed to the theater in the fall,” Gen. David H. Petraeus, nominated to head the military’s Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

And Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, nominated for a fourth star and to succeed General Petraeus as the top commander in Iraq, said he did not foresee a need for extra troops to guard against violence around the time of the Iraqi elections.

But the generals’ favorable predictions were tempered by General Petraeus’s acknowledgment that Iraqi security forces probably will not be able to take the lead role in all provinces of the country this year, as the Pentagon had predicted earlier. He also said that the provincial elections probably would be held in November rather than October because of the recent violence in Basra.

“I will never say ‘never,’ ” General Odierno said in response to a question from Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York, who took time away from her presidential campaign to attend the session. “But I believe we should not need an increase.”

As for General Petraeus’s cautious forecast of modest further troop reductions before he leaves the Iraq command in the fall, Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who heads the panel, said, “That, I think, is good news to most of us.”

Still, the Iraq war continued to roil the Capitol even while the committee hearing was taking place. By 75 to 22, the Senate voted to add support for veterans and the unemployed to a bill that would finance another year of the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns. The amendment attracted considerable Republican support, despite President Bush’s threat to veto the measure if it comes to him with domestic spending items tacked on.

Mr. Levin complimented the qualifications of the two officers for command, indicating their confirmation in their new posts is all but assured.

“Regardless of one’s view of the wisdom of the policy that took us to Iraq in the first place and has kept us there over five years, we owe General Petraeus and General Odierno a debt of gratitude,” Senator Levin said. “And regardless how long the administration may choose to remain engaged in the strife in that country, our troops are better off with the leadership these two distinguished soldiers provide.”

President Bush, during a visit on Thursday to the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, N.C., once again deferred to General Petraeus on the matter of any additional withdrawals.

“My message to our commanders is this: You will have all the troops, you will have all the resources you need to win in Iraq,” Mr. Bush said, speaking on an expansive parade field before 17,000 soldiers, as well as their families and friends.

Having drawn criticism that he had failed to outline a strategy for ending the American involvement, or at least reducing it, Mr. Bush sought to do so on Thursday, though only in broad terms.

“Success will be when Al Qaeda has no safe havens in Iraq and Iraqis can protect themselves,” he said. “Success will be when Iraq is a nation that can support itself economically. Success will be when Iraq is a democracy that governs itself effectively and responds to the will of its people. Success will be when Iraq is a strong and capable ally in the war on terror.”

Mr. Bush cited Iraq’s military operations in Basra and Baghdad, as well as declining inflation and increasing oil production, as significant progress. He also praised the work of Iraq’s political leaders, who have begun passing legislation that is widely viewed as necessary for political reconciliation.

“We can’t expect them to reach agreement on every issue,” he said. “But we can expect Iraqis of all backgrounds to take an increasingly active role in the democratic process, share power, and settle disputes by debating in the halls of government rather than fighting in the streets.”

General Petraeus has been nominated to head the United States Central Command, which oversees American military activity in both Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the surrounding region, and General Odierno has been nominated to serve as commander of Multinational Force-Iraq. He and General Odierno each have served multiple tours in Iraq, and the two officers developed a close working relationship when General Odierno was the No. 2 commander in Iraq under General Petraeus.

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