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Posted on 07/12/2007 5:30:59 PM PDT by Bokababe
WASHINGTON - The Iraqi government is achieving only spotty military and political progress, the Bush administration conceded Thursday in an assessment that war critics quickly seized on as confirmation of their dire warnings. Within hours, the House voted to withdraw U.S. troops by spring.
The House measure passed 223-201 in the Democratic-controlled chamber despite a veto threat from President Bush, who has ruled out any change in war policy before September.
"The security situation in Iraq remains complex and extremely challenging," the administration report concluded. The economic picture is uneven, it added, and the government has not yet enacted vital political reconciliation legislation.
As many as 80 suicide bombers per month cross into the country from Syria, said the interim assessment, which is to be followed by a fuller accounting in September from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in the region.
"I believe we can succeed in Iraq, and I know we must," Bush said at a White House news conference at which he stressed the interim nature of the report.
Describing a document produced by his administration at Congress' insistence, he said there was satisfactory progress by the Iraqi government toward meeting eight of 18 so-called benchmarks, unsatisfactory progress on eight more and mixed results on the rest.
To his critics — including an increasing number of Republicans — he said bluntly, "I don't think Congress ought to be running the war. I think they ought to be funding the troops."
Democrats saw it differently.
A few hours after Bush's remarks, Democratic leaders engineered passage of legislation requiring the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops to begin within 120 days, and to be completed by April 1, 2008. The measure envisions a limited residual force to train Iraqis, protect U.S. assets and fight al-Qaida and other terrorists.
The vote generally followed party lines: 219 Democrats and four Republicans in favor, and 191 Republicans and 10 Democrats opposed.
Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., voted for troop withdrawals for the first time, contending that while she still opposes a swift pullout, "staying in Iraq indefinitely is equally unacceptable."
"The report makes clear that not even the White House can conclude there has been significant progress," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
To Bush and others who seek more time for the administration's policy to work, she said, "We have already waited too long."
Republicans sided with Bush — at least for now. The bill "undermines Gen. Petraeus, undermines the mission he has to make America and Iraq safe," said the House GOP leader, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio. "What we have here is not leadership, it's negligence."
The 25-page administration report was issued in the fifth year of a war that has claimed the lives of more than 3,600 U.S. troops and is costing U.S. taxpayers an estimated $10 billion a month.
Bush announced last winter he was ordering thousands of additional troops to the war zone, but the full complement has only arrived in recent weeks. "The full surge in this respect has only just begun," the report said.
It warned of "tough fighting" during the summer as U.S. and Iraqi forces "seek to seize the initiative from early gains and shape conditions of longer-term stabilization."
The president sampled the report at his nationally televised session with reporters.
"Iraqis have provided the three brigades they promised for operations in and around Baghdad. And the Iraqi government is spending nearly $7.3 billion from its own funds this year to train, equip and modernize its forces," he said.
But in other areas, he added, they "have much more work to do. For example, they've not done enough to prepare for local elections or pass a law to share oil revenues."
The report was blunt at points and more opaque at others.
While Iraq has begun to show progress in providing services, "citizens nationwide complain about government corruption and the lack of essential services, such as electricity, fuel supply, sewer, water, health and sanitation."
At another point, it added, "The prerequisites for a successful militia disarmament program are not present."
In addition to citing a Syrian connection for terrorists, it also said Iran has continued to foster instability in Iraq.
It cited measured progress on the economic front. "Unemployment has eased slightly and inflation is currently abating," the report said. It omitted mention of a June 1 Pentagon report estimating an annual inflation rate at 33 percent and the Iraqi government estimate of joblessness at 17 percent.
In an evident jab at critics of Bush's war policies, the report also said progress toward political reconciliation was hampered by "increasing concern among Iraqi political leaders that the United States may not have a long term-commitment to Iraq."
Despite rising pressure from Republicans in Congress for a change in course, Bush was adamant.
"When we start drawing down our forces in Iraq, it will (be) because our military commanders say the conditions on the ground are right, not because pollsters say it'll be good politics," he said.
Before Thursday's House vote, GOP aides said they hoped to suffer only a few party defections, but the administration faced a more volatile situation in the Senate. There, three Republicans have already said they intend to vote for a separate withdrawal measure, and several others have signed on as supporters of a bipartisan bill to implement a series of changes recommended last winter by the Iraqi Study Group.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who announced his intention to seek a change in policy last week, issued a statement that said the administration's most recent assessment "confirms my worst fears that while the Iraqi government is making some progress on some benchmarks, it's not moving fast enough to make meaningful or lasting progress."
Even so, it appears the president's allies have the support to block a final Senate vote in a showdown expected next week.
If the report changed any minds in Congress, it was not immediately apparent.
"It is time for the president to listen to the American people and do what is necessary to protect this nation. That means admitting his Iraq policy has failed, working with the Democrats and Republicans in Congress on crafting a new way forward in Iraq and refocusing our collective efforts on defeating al-Qaida," said Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
But Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said Congress has already decided it will be September before the administration's strategy can be evaluated properly. "Certainly the young soldiers and Marines risking their lives today on the streets of Baghdad and Ramadi would agree — and they deserve our patience."
"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
80 suicide bombers a month from Syria, and 219 from the United States House of Representatives.
The spinelessness is sickening.
I wonder if anyone has figured out what the cost in billions would be if there had been another attack on NYC, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, etc. The cost of fighting the war would be insignificant in comparison with the initial damage, the loss of airports, the electric grids that would be down, hospitals destroyed, health care lost, and that’s only the beginning if the terroists had not come up against a president who had the guts to fight back.
This op-ed cartoon says it all.
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What will absolutely happen going forward is Fort Greenzone and Fort embassy and a 3 mile perimeter on each. We will not keep dieing like we are but we will be a stick in their side for 100 years. If we want to, we will come out and kill them but they will have to deal with us on the oil. We really don’t care what they do with each other. This is absolutely what you will see by September.
Traitors! But the good news is that they are idiots who simply cannot understand that they cannot win this battle against the President.
good. I’m tired of our kids dieing for a country that doesnt want us there and cant fend for itself from outside ragtag terrorists
” The measure envisions a limited residual force to train Iraqis”
Morons think ‘a limited residual force’ can train amid the violence their ‘measure’ leaves, proof Democrats should never be in charge of any Military Force(think Somolia, Black Hawk Down). Opps, my apology for the name calling...
One hour of terrorist attacks on 9/11 2001 caused 3000 dead and over 1 trillion dollars in economic losses.
"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 will happen if we leave before we achieve victory?
The terrorists whether they are Al Qaeda or the Iranian and Syrian terrorist regimes or a combination of all of them will not only control Iraq but the whole Middle East and with it come consequences to the US and the West that is worse the most horrible nightmares we can imagine. The islamic terrorists will be emboldened beyond imagination and they will have millions of recruits and volunteers ready to fight and destroy the world to establish their seventh century islamic society and Caliphate. The islamic terrorists will use the hundreds of billions of dollars from oil revenues to conduct terrorists attacks that are hundreds of folds more horrible, more deadly, and more destructive than the 9/11 terrorists attacks, including the use of nuclear weapons. They will also use the oil weapon to blackmail the Western and the world economy for many years to come.
If some terrorists dwelling in camps in Afghanistan with a limited budget and few volunteers were able to do 9/11 terrorist attacks, killed 3000 people and caused one trillion dollars in economic losses, imagine the incredible horrors that the terrorists can inflict on us if they control the whole Middle East and it vast revenues.
Any person who has a shred of patriotism and a basic common sense will realize that we simply cannot afford to leave Iraq before we defeat terrorism there.
***One hour of terrorist attacks on 9/11 2001 caused 3000 dead and over 1 trillion dollars in economic losses.***
There you go, jveritas. Thanks for the quick answer.
LOL... excellent point.
Just simple facts and very unfortunate facts that so many people do not understand.
I think it has become very clear who is running amok. House of Representatives and the U.S. Congress are serving only themselves and the enemies of America.
ALL of you Weak-kneed sisters, like Jo Emerson will be DEFEATED! They are NOT up to the job that Republicans demand.
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