« Obama: "We'll make sure Palestinians have a state" | Main | Guantanamo Trial Views Graphic 9/11 Video »
July 28, 2008
General Petraeus Not Joining Withdrawl Bandwagon! Thank God!
Petraeus won't join bandwagon for Iraq withdrawal timetable
The top U.S. military commander in Iraq isn't buying the increasingly popular idea of a publicly stated timetable for American troop withdrawal.
Gen. David Petraeus, the Iraq commander, said in an interview that the situation in Iraq is too volatile to "project out, and to then try to plant a flag on a particular date."
With violence at its lowest levels of the war, politicians in both the United States and Iraq are getting behind the idea of a departure timetable. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was first, suggesting he would have combat troops home within 16 months of Inauguration Day. The idea got a big boost during his overseas trip last week, when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki indicated support for that general timeline.
During a Friday interview on CNN's "The Situation Room," Republican candidate John McCain, who had opposed setting a timeline, appeared to shift ground. McCain said that 16 months "is a pretty good timetable" but must be based on conditions on the ground.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration has embraced "time horizons" as it negotiates with the Iraqi government a status of forces agreement over the future role of U.S. troops.
Petraeus said any timetable must have "a heck of a lot more granularity than the kind of very short-hand statements that have been put out."
"We occasionally have commanders who have so many good weeks, (they think) it's won. We've got this thing. Well we don't. We've had so many good weeks. Right now, for example we've had two-and-a-half months of levels of violence not since March 2004," he said from his office at Camp Victory.
"Well that's encouraging. It's heartening. It's very welcome. But let's keep our powder dry. . . .Let's not let our guard down."
Petraeus is pushing for what he says as a more nuanced debate as both U.S. and Iraqi political leaders are in campaign seasons, with many voters in both countries wanting to hear there is an end. Maliki is trying to sway voters in time for this fall's scheduled provincial elections by winning support from his political rival, firebrand cleric Muqtada al Sadr, who has called for a U.S. withdrawal date since 2004.
Throughout his tenure, Petraeus has argued for a drawdown based on conditions, saying that the last of the five surge brigades could leave earlier this month because Iraqi forces are increasingly capable of securing Iraq.
Petraeus said that while both Sunni and Shiite extremists groups are weaker, Iraqi security forces still face threats as the groups try to reconstitute themselves throughout Iraq. And because of that, U.S. and Iraqi forces must not assume that the battle here is won, he said.
Maliki's surprise spring offensive in the southern port city of Basra was a turning point in the security situation. It rid Iraq's second-largest city of militia control and bolstered the confidence of both the Iraqi people and military. But the Iraqi security forces turned to U.S. troops to help them win, leading some to call for a more cautious withdrawal plan.
Petraeus has said he believes there will be a "long-term partnership" in which the U.S. acts primarily in an advisory role to Iraqi forces, but with enough combat power to step in and help if major battles erupt. But he said that that like most things in Iraq, plans could change.
"We know where we are trying to go. We know how we think we need to try to get there with our Iraqi partners and increasingly with them in the lead and shouldering more of the burden as they are," Petraeus said.
"But there are a lot of storm clouds out there, there are lots of these possible lightning bolts. You just don't know what it could be. You try to anticipate them and you try to react very quickly. . . .It's all there, but it's not something you want to lay out publicly."
.
Wild Thing's comment........
Please God I pray these men ( Obama and McCain) listen to General Petraeus and stop making this pulling out of Iraq with setting a date part of their campaign!!!!!!
Patreaus is a good man and an awesome leader. And why the heck aren't these men listening to the man in charge of the “troops on the ground?
With all this talk about this the insurgents must be cheering this topic. These things IMO are none of our business nor the insurgents. It is military and should be on only a need to know basis.
Posted by Wild Thing at July 28, 2008 02:55 AM
Comments
For one thing, General Petreaus isn't sending oodles of money to the two contenders' campaigns. Being an election year, our (non)presidential candidates are going to say what they believe their payers want to hear. Doesn't mean at all that is what they will do once in (sigh) office. The next few months are going to be very interesting because Iran et al, do not play the game the same way as we do. The last couple of months of Bush's term and/or the first couple of months of the new (sigh) president's term could be 'explosive', to say the least.
They'd better damn well listen to the Commanders, such as Petreaus.
Posted by: yankeemom at July 28, 2008 06:06 AM
Nice to know we do not have a yellow 'PC' flag officer that realizes WE have to FIGHT with rules of NON-ENGAGEMENT, and the islamofascist terrorists are permitted to fight any way they desire - without rules, uniforms, flags or identities!
Posted by: darthcrUSAderworldtour07 at July 28, 2008 06:30 AM
Petraeus is the only one with a working brain-- every body wants to be unassociated from Bush that they can't make a believeable statement without fear of being Bush like- ! Bush is not so bad people - ya'll dumb Bush bashers! At least he is a real American - Not some fake obvious liar!
Posted by: Cheryl Zee at July 28, 2008 10:02 AM
Gen Petraeus must be getting as frustrated as Gen Schwartzkoph was at the end of Gulf War 1. Gen Petraeus is watching as hard won stability in Iraq is being endangered by politicians. A timetable for troop withdrawal helped lead to the fall of South Vietnam. Now, two very self serving politicians want to promise a troop withdrawal timetable to impress potential voters.
If the Iraq war escalates much, we can blame it on American politicians as much as we can blame Al-queda.
Posted by: TomR at July 28, 2008 11:32 AM
'And why the heck aren't these men listening to the man in charge of the “troops on the ground?'
Because the number 1 requirement to get motivated to run for public office is an oversized ego.
There is something to be said for the draft. Draft people to run for office then we elect the best of 10 drafties.
Posted by: Odin at July 28, 2008 01:33 PM
Unfortunately, Barack Obama's 16 month Iraqi withdrawal and surrender plan promoted by the MSM/dbm has now become the "official" plan of record which all discussions are measured against. Even General Petraeus is forced to respond/comment to this politicly motivated proposal.
The only way to deal with Barack Obama and his 16 month withdrawal timetable is to leave him absolutely no wiggle room during the campaign or as president should that disaster occur. We should demand that he does what he promised and take full responsibility for the results.
Posted by: Les at July 28, 2008 03:55 PM
Yankeemom, thank you and I agree, they better listen to Gen. Petreaus and the other Commanders.
Posted by: Wild Thing at July 28, 2008 04:08 PM
Darth, yes it sure is a good feeling to have men like Petreaus.
Posted by: Wild Thing at July 28, 2008 04:11 PM
Cheryl, I agree, I really like Bush, I have only had a dislike big time for his stand on illegals more then anything and a few other things. But across the board, Bush has been OK with me.
Posted by: Wild Thing at July 28, 2008 04:13 PM
Tom, AMEN AND DITTO! And I sure will blame them just like you said.
"If the Iraq war escalates much, we can blame it on American politicians as much as we can blame Al-queda."
Posted by: Wild Thing at July 28, 2008 04:19 PM
Odin, well they sure do have that. Your so right.
"number 1 requirement to get motivated to run for public office is an oversized ego."
Posted by: Wild Thing at July 28, 2008 04:24 PM
Les, now this gave me an idea......... I say tie him up and duct tape his ugle mouth. YESSSS on what you said and what I just thought of. heh heh
"leave him absolutely no wiggle room during the campaign or as president"
Posted by: Wild Thing at July 28, 2008 04:28 PM
While I believe that the military must work for the civilian that concept was severely bent by HST when he sacked MacArthur. I would like to hear McCain say that he will keep Petraeus in the job or make him Army Chief. You know that Obama will remove him in his first week in office. Obama will probably put Wesley Clark over there to win all the wars. Hah!
Posted by: Horace at July 28, 2008 09:28 PM
Horace, yes that does sound like something Obama would do. Wesley Clark would be horrible, what a nightmare we would or will have if Obama is CIC.
Posted by: Wild Thing at July 28, 2008 11:16 PM
So, what do you do when the Iraqi government asks you to leave?
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/07/iraqs_maliki_backs_obamas_exit.html
Is it still "surrendering?" I agree that it's foolish to disregard the opinions of military on the ground, particularly if it is their opinion that our withdrawal causes some sort of resurgence of the insurgency or Al-Queda. That being said, we have to remember that we are fighting to ensure that their government is sovereign, and, even if hypothetically, that if they ask or imply that we leave, we do so. If, for whatever reason, there are elements within the country that threaten our interests, e.g. Al-Queda, then it'd be foolish to allow an opportunity for resurgency. But if they, a sovereign country, want to fight their own battles, by all means they should be left to do so.
In addition, I didn't elect Petreus for President. It'd be silly to sit and say I don't respect his grasp of the situation in Iraq, but he's also not the one who has to figure out what to do about a 9.5 TRILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT, 20% of which we owe to CHINA. (http://www.treas.gov/tic/mfh.txt)
I'm from the Ron Paul school of thought on this (which Obama has, more or less adopted.) McCain tried to batter both of them on the point, but its true: We shouldn't put/leave boots on the ground all over the damn world. We don't have the money, and we're stretching ourselves thin in the process, leaving ourselves vulnerable to the next biggest threat.
Posted by: J. Williams at July 31, 2008 01:14 PM
