Posted on 09/09/2007 10:06:00 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - President Bush's war strategy is failing and the top military commander in Iraq is "dead flat wrong" for warning against major changes, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Sunday.
Ahead of two days of crucial testimony by Bush's leading military and political advisers on Iraq, Sen. Joseph Biden indicated that he and other Democrats would persist in efforts to set target dates for bringing troops home.
"The reality is that although there's been some mild security progress, there is in fact no security in Baghdad or Anbar province where I was dealing with the most serious problem, sectarian violence," said Biden, a 2008 presidential candidate who recently returned from Iraq.
Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker were scheduled to testify before four congressional committees, including Biden's, on Monday and Tuesday. Lawmakers will hear how the commander and the diplomat assess progress in Iraq and offer recommendations about the course of war strategy.
Officials familiar with their thinking told The Associated Press over the weekend that the advisers would urge Congress not to make significant changes. Their report will note that while national political progress has been disappointing, security gains in local areas have shown promise, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal deliberations.
Petraeus and Crocker will say the buildup of 30,000 troops, which bring the current U.S. total to nearly 170,000, is working better than any previous effort to quell the insurgency and restore stability. The officials also disputed suggestions that Petraeus and Crocker would recommend anything more than a symbolic reduction in troop levels and then only in the spring.
The testimony sets the stage for an announcement by Bush later in the week about he will proceed in the face of widespread public unhappiness and growing congressional discomfort with the war.
Biden, signaling that tough questioning awaits the pair from majority Democrats and moderate Republicans, said Petraeus' assessment missed the point. Biden, D-Del., said focusing on a political solution, such as by creating more local control, was the only way to foster national reconciliation among warring factions.
"I really respect him, but I think he's dead flat wrong," Biden said.
Biden contended that Bush's main strategy was to buy time and extend the troop presence in Iraq long enough to push the burden onto the next president, who takes office in January 2009, to fix the sectarian strife.
"This president has no plan — how to win and how to leave," Biden said.
Stressing that a political solution was the key, he said, "I will insist on a firm beginning to withdraw the troops and I will insist on a target date to get American combat forces out," except for those necessary to protect U.S. civilians and fight al-Qaida.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., agreed. "The problem is, if you don't have a deadline and you don't require something of the Iraqis, they're simply going to use our presence as cover for their willingness to delay, which is what they have done month after month after month," he said.
"I think the general will present the facts with respect to the statistics and the tactical successes or situations as he sees them," Kerry said. "But none of us should be fooled — not the American people, not you in the media, not us in Congress — we should not be fooled into this tactical success debate."
But Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he trusts the military judgment of Petraeus and that it was foolish for Congress to try and second-guess commanders on the ground.
In the end, Graham said, the U.S. cannot afford to withdraw prematurely if it is military unwise and risks plunging the region into more chaos.
"If the general tells me down the road we can withdraw troops because of military success, we should all celebrate it," Graham said. "But if politicians in Washington pick an arbitrary date, an arbitrary number to withdraw, it's not going to push Baghdad politicians.
"It's going to re-energize an enemy that's on the map," he said.
Biden spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press," Kerry appeared on ABC's "This Week," and Graham was on "Fox News Sunday."
‘Jumpin’ the Gun’ Joe Biden,, the report isn’t even out yet.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
what ever you do,
don’t elect a democrap in 2008.
actually I blame Mr. Biden.
To whoever you are: the ones who update keywords at the speed of lightning.. Damn yur quick! Thanks! ;-)
If he was any kind of leader at all, he'd keep his mouth shut when the real experts speak.
Petraeus blames Biden for being a clueless plagiarist with hair plugs.
It’s neck and neck between Joe Biden and Joe Kennedy as to the dumbest person ever elected to our federal legislature.
Hard choice here. Political hack Biden or the General
Take the word of a guy who is a career politician and ranks at the bottom of the ladder in intelligence or take the word of the guy who actually is in the field running things who has risen to the highest rank in the world best military.
Gee, guess I will flip a coin, tough call here
We need to start calling Biden’s office with one word....TRAITOR.
biden should leave war policy to those with higher pay grades
Naw, those two are tied for next-to-stupidest as Susan Collins, a drooling moron, is clearly the dimmest of the dim bulbs.
His hair plugs have gone to his brain and short circuited it.
But then of course, he’s also a defeat-o-crat and a Dim-Dhim-o-crap.
The Dims seem to have no idea of what’s at stake for America and Western civilization.
Sen Bin Laden Biden needs to degrease and lose some weight, and then we can talk.
Typically ignorant Democrat “prebuttal”. Note the imbedded word “butt”.
I just thought he was "borrowing material" from Harry Reid.
Yes, and as George Will pointed out this week, we now have a situation in which the military is doing all the thinking instead of our representatives. When people like Biden talk like he does, all they are doing is excaping careful consideration and relinquishing responsibility - they should all be fired.
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