The General weighs in

The General disagress with Congressman John P. Murtha, saying he doesn't care much for tone of the debate going on in Washington.

The top tactical commander in Iraq says an abrupt pullout of U.S. troops would be "destabilizing" and labeled "disturbing" Washington's heated political debate that has some Democrats calling the war unwinnable.

Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, who commands the Multinational Corps Iraq, said that 36 Iraqi battalions, about one-third of the total force, are now responsible for their own security sectors and can fight the insurgency. But they are not yet ready to operate totally independent of U.S. supply lines and tactical advice.  Because of that, he said, now is not the time for an American withdrawal.

"Iraqi security forces are able to conduct operations in a large portion of their area with only limited coalition support," Gen. Vines told Pentagon reporters via a teleconference from Baghdad. "They do require our support at this time. That support will be increasingly less over a period of time, but a precipitous pullout, I believe, would be destabilizing."

Gen. Vines' U.S. troops, which number 160,000, are now fighting against a backdrop of a heated debate in Washington over the course of the war. Some Democrats want a fixed timetable for troop withdrawals, a move President Bush rejects because, he says, it sends the wrong signal to terrorists and Saddam Hussein loyalists.

Rep. John P. Murtha, Pennsylvania Democrat, upped the ante last week. He called the war unwinnable and asked that a six-month withdrawal from Iraq begin immediately, triggering a fierce House debate Friday night on a resolution which would call for just that. It failed 403-3.

Even before the troop debate, Democrats charged that the commander in chief deliberately misstated the intelligence on Iraq's suspected weapons of mass destruction. The White House struck back, starting last week, saying the president presented the same intelligence on WMD that some Democrats used to justify their vote for using force to oust Saddam.

"Of course the debate and the bitterness is disturbing," Gen. Vines said. "But after all, we are a democracy, and that is what democracy is about is people will have differences of opinions."

Asked about troops' morale, Gen. Vines said, "Certainly soldiers are concerned about whether or not they enjoy the support of not only their elected representatives, but the people, and they know that they have their support."

While staring victory in the face the Democrats in congress call the war unwinnnable and demand an "immediate redeployment", a move some might consider oddly timed.  In the past they've likened the troops to Nazi and Soviet gulag prison guards.  It's their way of showing of support.

Comments

[ny patriot]

"While staring victory in the face"

I thought victory was already achieved back in May 2003? You remember, Mission Accomplished, and all that other administration b.s. rhetoric?

Questioning the wisdomn of the leadership of the Commander in Chief is not only democratically the responsible thing to do but, given the track record of the buffoon in the White House and his crony-leadership in Congress, it is completely warranted. At some point in every conflict or crisis, you have to debate the merits of continuing a policy that may no longer be as reachable as originally thought when the policy (in this case the warin Iraq) was originally initiated.

It has been Bush's own fault that the country has now decided that this war is no longer either winnable or a viable choice of foreign policy. His. Not Murtha, not the democrats, not he D.O.D, not the generals and the retired generals, etc. It is Bush's. When the President sold this war to American people, it was promised that this would be a swift military operation and that the U.S. would just as quickly step aside and let the liberated Iraqi's self-govern and self-defend themselves. If you think that after 2 1/2 years thus far that we are near the completion of attaining these goals than you are very naive.

And BTW, General Westmoreland voiced almost the same exact sentiments back in 1970 regarding Vietnam. Back then, it "only" took the U.S. 5 more years to figure out that the general was clearly wrong. Hopefully we'll be a little bit more clairevoyant this time around.

[Tom Bowler]

I don't think you've grasped the lesson of Vietnam. It was lost on the home front. It's disgraceful that lefty politicians and the mainstream press work so hard for our defeat in Iraq by assisting the the terrorists on the only possible front they can win - American public opinion. It would be one thing if they were presenting an accurate view of events, but they don't. Their picture of the situation in Iraq is about as accurate as Dan Rather's forged memos.