Free Republic

The US Army's senior general in the Middle East delivered a blunt warning to Democrats yesterday that setting timetables for troop withdrawals would damage America's attempts to win the war in Iraq.In a tension-filled and sometimes acrimonious hearing on Capitol Hill, Gen John Abizaid, the head of US Central Command, said it was imperative that commanders in Iraq had the freedom to modify troop levels depending on conditions on the ground. "Specific timetables limit that flexibility," he insisted. When Senator Hillary Clinton remarked that "hope is not a strategy", Gen Abizaid agreed but added that despair was not a policy...

General John Abizaid, the top US commander in the Middle East, on Wednesday warned that a phased withdrawal of US troops within six months, which some Democrats want, would increase sectarian violence in Iraq.Gen Abizaid also drew the ire of John McCain, the Arizona senator and Republican frontrunner for the 2008 presidential race, by saying he did not believe more troops would help the US stop the bloodshed in the war-torn country. “I believe more American forces prevent the Iraqis from doing more, taking more responsibility for their future,” Gen Abizaid said at a contentious Senate armed services hearing. Democrats,...