It was an interesting, three-way showdown today at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, with Dems talking about a timeline for withdrawal, John McCain talking about adding 20,000 more troops to Baghdad, and CentCom commander Gen. John Abizaid saying they’re both wrong. The McCain-Abizaid discussion was particularly interesting.
MCCAIN: Did you note that General Zinni who opposed of the invasion now thinks that we should have more troops? Did you notice that General Batise, who was opposed to the conduct of this conflict also says that we may need tens and thousands of additional troops. I don’t understand General. When you have a part of Iraq that is not under our control and yet we still — as Al Anbar province is — I don’t know how many American lives have been sacrificed in Al Anbar province — but we still have enough and we will rely on the ability to train the Iraqi military when the Iraqi army hasn’t send the requested number of battalions into Baghdad.
ABIZAID: Senator McCain, I met with every divisional commander, General Casey, the core commander, General Dempsey, we all talked together. And I said, ‘In your professional opinion, if we were to bring in more American troops now, does it add considerably to our ability to achieve success in Iraq?’ And they all said no. And the reason is because we want the Iraqis to do more. It is easy for the Iraqis to rely upon to us do this work. I believe that more American forces prevent the Iraqis from doing more, from taking more responsibility for their own future.
McCain was, apparently, none too pleased with the response, saying he was “disappointed” that Abizaid was “advocating the status quo here today, which I think the American people in the last election said that is not an acceptable condition.”
Of course, Abizaid isn’t going for timetables for withdrawal, either.
The top U.S. commander in the Middle East warned Congress Wednesday against setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, saying it would impede commanders in managing U.S. and Iraqi forces.
The assertion by Gen. John Abizaid seemed to put him at odds with some Democrats pressing the Bush administration to begin pulling out of Iraq. […]
In arguing against a timetable for troop withdrawals, Abizaid told the committee that he and other U.S. commanders need flexibility in managing U.S. forces and determining how and when to pass on responsibility to Iraqi forces.
“Specific timetables limit that flexibility,” the general said.
So, no troop increases, no troop decreases, no stay the course. That ought to clear things up.
As for the near-future, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) pressed Abizaid on how much time remains before Baghdad spirals entirely out of control.
“Four to six months,” Abizaid said.