Has there been progress in Iraq?

What progress has been made in Iraq? The progress question or some variant of it was asked repeatedly at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "Iraq After the Surge: What Next?" Chairman Joseph Biden (D-DE) said in his opening statement violence in Iraq has gone down, but not as far as anticipated. These are fragile gains, he said, and the notion of staying in the country is not the goal. The continued loss of life, drains on our treasury, the impact of readiness on our armed services, and the ability to send soldiers to where al-Qaida has grouped, is like "treading water" and we can't keep treading water without exhausting ourselves.

Ryan Crocker, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, relayed that it is hard to see progress in Iraq, and there is much to be done. However, he said, the surge is working. We have begun to develop a long-term relationship with the United States and Iraq, and the heart of the framework is a United States presence in Iraq. Our forces will remain in Iraq past December 31, which is when the current UN agreement expires. The new agreement will not make permanent bases in Iraq or raise up troop levels. Almost everything about Iraq is hard, Crocker said, but hard does not mean hopeless. Our gains are fragile and reversible. In regards to Iraq, Americans and the world will judge us not on what we have done, but what will happen in the future.

We have been transferring power to Iraqis, said Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq. Half of the provinces in Iraq are under their control, and Iraq's security forces expenditures have exceeded ours. While the forces in Iraq itself have improved, Petraeus said, their forces are not ready to defend themselves on their own. They are shouldering a lot of the load, but they are not yet ready for a resurgence of al-Qaida in Iraq, better known as AQI. There is an operational consideration, he said, transference of power requires a lot of time and monitoring. We've asked a great deal of our men and women in uniform, he said, and we are grateful and appreciate their sacrifices. All Americans should take great pride in them.

But what would happen if we removed our troops? Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) asked that question, and Petraeus responded that we have put our teeth into their jugular, and we need to keep it there. In response to an additional question from Senator Biden, Petraeus said we are at a "six or seven" level on a scale from one to ten towards readiness to return to our pre-surge troop level. Biden also asked Ambassador Crocker, "In a choice, the Lord Almighty came down and sat in the middle of the table there and said, 'Mr. Ambassador, you can eliminate every al-Qaida source in Afghanistan and Pakistan or every al-Qaida personnel in Iraq,' which would you pick?" The Ambassador said he would choose al-Qaida in the Afghanistan Pakistan border area.

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) said AQI was not in Iraq before we got there, and that AQI is really the focus here. If we are successful in Iraq, he asked, do we anticipate that AQI will not reconstitute itself? At what point do we say that they will not be particularly effective? In terms of our success in Iraq, it's just as fair to say that we can't get rid of AQI but just create a manageable situation. What is a legitimate affair between Iran and Iraq that would make us comfortable enough to pull out our troops? We all have the greatest interests in seeing a successful resolution in Iraq, he said. I continue to believe that going in was a blunder. I think that the surge has reduced violence and given us breathing room, he said, but not enough breathing room. I think increased pressure in a measured way, includes a withdrawal of troops.

McCain speaks at Vets For Freedom Heroes Tour

This morning more than 400 veterans and spectators gathered in Upper Senate Park as part of the Heroes Tour put on by Vets For Freedom. The tour is a “coast-to-coast bus tour to personally thank America’s men and women who risk their lives by having served-and currently serving-in the armed forces.” Senators McCain, Lieberman, Graham and Representative Marshall were on hand to speak.

The purpose of the event was to enable people to have a perspective from veterans that came from across the country. McCain, and the media frenzy that surrounds him, arrived at around 8:30 and minutes later he addressed the crowd.

“There’s a lot of conversations about veterans and where they stand and how they feel about the war. I think your presence here today indicates that the overwhelming majority of veterans who have served and sacrificed in this conflict know that there is no substitute for victory, and withdraw is defeat,” McCain said, drawing a huge cheer from the crowd.

Military Experts Urge Troop Withdrawal from Iraq

General Barry McCaffrey, president of BR McCaffrey Associates LLC, Lt. (Ret.) General William E. Odom, senior advisor of Center for Strategic and International Studies, Maj. (Ret.) Gen. Robert H. Scales, Jr., CEO/president of Colgen, LP and Ms. Michele Flournoy, president of New American Security, all testified today in front of the Foreign affairs committee’s hearing on “Iraq After the Surge: Military Prospects.”

While introducing the topic of the hearing, Chairman Joseph R. Biden (D-DE) said “Iraq is dangerous and very far from normal.”

The witnesses started off by explaining the situation in Iraq and how the security has increased after the ceasefire. However these past few weeks, some southern parts of Iraq, such as Basra, have been witnessing some clashing between Shiites militia groups.

General Barry McCaffrey talked about how the tactical situation in Iraq has improved, but he showed his concern of the various Shiites militia groups in Iraq. However, he further emphasized the quality of the manpower of the U.S. army, the U.S. naval being not resourceful, and the latter has been one of the reasons why it has been hard to resolve the militia problem in the country. In addition to his concerns, he talked about the constant extension of the time frame of troop withdrawal and said it should be as soon as possible, because the conflicts in Iraq are far from resolution. After the current problems in the country, the struggle between Shiites and Northern Kurds will start, mostly on oil and territory, thus “it makes sense to get out of there now” said the General.

The hearing continued with General William E. Odom, who talked about the importance of troop withdrawal, and Al-Qaeda hatred in the country and by its neighbors. Gen. Odom also stressed the importance of progressing good relations with Iran, since the latter country is a crucial power in the region.

Gen. Scales and Ms. Fournoy both stressed the importance of withdrawing the troops strategically and leaving trainers on sight to help and train the Iraqi Army and the government for future threats. President Bush’s strategy on remaining until the Iraqis were in need of help was said to be unrealistic by the witnesses, since that makes the Iraqis rely and be dependent on the U.S. forces rather than their own. Gen. Scales also added “the best way to make the Iraqi government effective is to get them fight.”

Former generals: The surge completely failed

Former Rep. Tom Andrews, D-Maine; retired Lt. Gen. William Odom; and retired Lt. Gen. Robert Gard hosted a conference call to act as a pre-buttal to testimony from Gen. David Petraeus, who will testify in the House and the Senate next week.

The three men, representing the organization "Win without War," said that the surge was a complete failure and that they seek to combat the conservative message that the surge has worked to create stability in Iraq.

Gen. Odom spoke about Petraeus' testimony from last year where the commander in Iraq said that there could be no military solution to a political problem and the coalition would only be able to create conditions that might allow for some political development. Odom said that while it is true that the violence dropped in al Anbar province but he did not credit the surge there. He said that Sunnis in that area allied with and were paid to work for the U.S. military in the "Sons of Iraq" program and that they are not loyal to the Iraq government. He spoke about the division between Shiites surrounding the violence created in last week's fighting in Basra and said that Sadr is the real winner in this situation. "There is no way you can look at this and say that you are better off this year than you were last year," Odom said.



"The insurgents seem to be able to fight without any U.S. trainers," Odom said, what is needed is more political development. He said that withdrawal is essential to overcoming the stalemate in Iraq and that either way, Iraq can not be "put back together" without violence.

Gen. Gard said that he is not criticizing Gen. Petraeus and recognizes that he was given a new directive of protecting the population and that he has done a good job in that directive. Gard said that we have not moved to achieve the end of political stability, as outlined by President Bush before the surge. He cited Odierno who said that without political progress the violence cannot be decreased.

Former representative Andrews of Maine said that that the Bush administration is only good at stagecraft as it tries to persuade American tax payers to continue to fund the war. They said that Congress should be investing in Iraq but not in the failed strategy of the surge.

When asked about Afghanistan the generals highlighted a statement made by Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when he said "in Afghanistan we do what we can and in Iraq we do what we must," and Gard called Iraq, "a diversion of our resources to the detriment of our security." Odom said that it is disturbing that "we have bet the future of NATO" on success in creating a centralized government in Afghanistan.

Another question about a proposed "pause" in examining the conditions on the ground before continuing to withdraw troops, Odom said that whether or not the U.S. stays or goes is not relevant because sectarian tensions have existed and will continue to exist regardless of U.S. presence and that the recent violence surrounding Shiite violence is just an emergence of tensions that will always exist. The generals concluded that the only thing the U.S. has control over is the number of U.S. troops who die in combat in Iraq and that Congress should therefore invest in a plan to withdraw those troops.

Today at Talk Radio News Service

This morning the Washington Bureau will be covering an event held by Darfur Action Now, which includes a "die-in" and a mock refugee camp. They will be doing video coverage, along with photos and interviews.

Also, this morning, the Bureau will cover a discussion on "Financial Costs of the War in Iraq."

This afternoon, they will cover the Democratic congressional candidates holding a telephone news briefing to announce a policy paper, "A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq," and covering a discussion with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich discussing Sen. Barack Obama's call for "change."