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Articles
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U.S. MAKING PROGRESS IN IRAQ
Congress must agree on policy that will succeed and bring troops home
Author: Sen. Elizabeth Dole
Publication: The Charlotte Observer |
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September 12th, 2007 - Like all North Carolinians, I want to see our service members come home from Iraq as soon as possible. Our state's bases have carried a tremendous load in this endeavor, with 151,000 personnel deploying to the region over the last six years, including 37,000 troops currently in theater.
Although Americans' heartfelt concerns for our troops and the security of our country should draw us towards consensus, a conspicuous gap exists between two Iraq policy positions -- long-term military commitment and mandated withdrawal. I firmly believe that we must seek common ground based on a set of shared principles.
This week, congressional committees, including the Senate Armed Services Committee on which I serve, heard from Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, our top military and civilian officials in Iraq. I strongly agree with Petraeus' recommendation to begin withdrawal of the equivalent of six brigades between this month and next July, and I encourage the president to heed this recommendation.
As I raised with Petraeus, units not withdrawn could be reassigned beginning next spring -- consistent with his security assessments -- to conduct border security operations, to reduce the flow of Iranian arms, particularly explosively formed projectiles, and other military supplies, to more effectively deny entry to foreign fighters entering through Syria, to supplement the training of additional Iraqi Security Forces, to conduct support operations or to back up Iraqi forces that increasingly should have the lead in security operations.
Despite ongoing success on the security front, political challenges remain. The Iraqi government's failure to seriously undertake efforts to achieve meaningful political reconciliation accurately conveys the true intentions and interests of the dominant factions within that government. As Dwight D. Eisenhower once observed, "I cannot judge a man by his intentions. I must judge him based on his actions." Through his inaction, Prime Minister Maliki appears satisfied with the unacceptable status quo.
In contrast, an increasingly coherent Sunni political bloc, with more effective security forces operating in Sunni regions of the country, lends a desperately needed counter to the dysfunctional government in Baghdad. Our coalition must recommit to work at every opportunity to compel reform within the national government. We must continue our efforts at "grass-roots progress" wherever feasible.
Although the difficulty of the situation in Iraq is rooted, in large part, in the Bush Administration's substantial failure to understand the full implications of our military invasion and the litany of mistakes made at the outset of the war, it should be noted that in recent months there has been willingness to change our strategy and to bring in leaders with greater independence.
For example, there are reports that Crocker did not support the decision to invade Iraq, and now he is our diplomat in Baghdad. And we have a military commander in place who understands the nature of the conflict. He developed and is executing a strategy that is making some progress.
Now that Petraeus and Crocker have made their reports and recommendations, Congress' task must be to find common ground and agree upon a policy that will allow our troops to succeed and return home with honor as soon as possible.
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