Posted on 04/04/2008 8:26:21 AM PDT by MNJohnnie
Congressional Democrats are warning U.S. Iraq commander General David Petraeus, and the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, not to attempt to minimize the seriousness of the situation in Iraq when they testify to Congress next week. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill.
A few days before General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker appear before House and Senate committees to deliver their latest update on Iraq, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi makes clear what she hopes they will not say.
In a news conference together with the chairmen of the House committees on Armed Services and Foreign Affairs, she refers to the recent fighting in Iraq's southern port city of Basra, saying Petraeus and Crocker should not attempt to put a positive spin on events.
"We have to know the real ground truths of what is happening there, not put a shine on events because of a resolution [of the situation in Basra] that looks less violent when it has in fact been dictated by someone [Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada] al-Sadr who can grant or withhold that call for violence or not," said Nancy Pelosi.
Thursday's news conference came in the wake of seemingly critical comments by Ambassador Crocker in a New York Times interview about the Iraqi government's handling of military operations in Basra.
Elaborating during a Baghdad news conference, Crocker indicated again that Iraqi military decisions caught U.S. forces by surprise. But he described Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as having acted decisively, and praised the Iraqi military for its ability to plan, execute and adjust its operation.
Whatever versions that emerge between now and next week, lawmakers are making clear they don't intend to accept a picture that candy coats (minimizes) the military, political or reconciliation situation.
Democratic House foreign affairs chairman Howard Berman says the Iraqi government appears, in his words, to have largely frittered away chances for political reconciliation:
"The purpose of the [U.S. military] surge was to create political space for Iraqis to make meaningful strides toward national reconciliation, but sectarianism sadly remains the dominant force in Iraq and the sacrifices involved in getting us to this point don't seem to have put us much closer to the goal," said Howard Berman.
Gen. David Petraeus (l) and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker testify before the House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Iraq situation, 10 Sep 2007 Gen. David Petraeus (l) and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker testify before the House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Iraq situation, 10 Sep 2007 Democrats will also underscore what they call the heavy strain on U.S. troops from the five-year conflict in Iraq, damage to U.S. capabilities to respond to other challenges, and diverting energy from the fight against al-Qaida and Taliban forces in Afghanistan.
Congressman Berman, and his fellow Democratic House armed services chairman Ike Skelton, also expressed new concerns about Iranian involvement in Iraq:
SKELTON: "Iran is the bull in the china shop. In all of this, they seem to have links to all of the Shiite groups, whether they be political or military."
BERMAN: "The most disturbing aspect of the war is the inarguable strengthening of Iran, the most dangerous state in the Middle East."
Neither man provided information about any new details they might have obtained about Iranian actions in Iraq.
However, Berman says Iran's role in the events in Basra is something he and others will explore with General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker next week.
I’d like to hear some “straight talk” about Iran. It won’t be nice and I bet the Democrats won’t want to hear it.
I wish Petraus would just sit there and answer nothing from the demonrats and when called on it say, “I’ve been warned in advance not to tell you any good news, so that leaves me nothing to say.”
“Don’t confuse me with facts...my mind is made up.”
I would never be able to refrain from spitting right in her face.
-PJ
“With an election coming up, we damn well better get a bad report.”
From the Terrorist Roundup this morning:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996531/posts?page=8#8
Al-Qaida’s strategic failure in Iraq
“The fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq provided a useful time to conduct preliminary field research into the status of the surge and its implications for the future of Iraq, writes RSIS.”
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?ID=18820
Good Read.
If he says that we are losing they will want to hear that.
That America Military hating Rat party should all rot in hell for what they do to this country.
The perception is that Iran has been strengthened because Saddam is gone. But the reality is that the Ayatollahs in Tehran feel more threatened now because they are bracketed by American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, in addition to the 5th Fleet.
The key with Iran is its nuclear program. With the US presence in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf, the US can bring massive airpower to bear on Iran and Iran gets NO reaction time. Flight time from Kabul and Baghdad and a carrier in the Persian Gulf to Natanz is a hell of a lot shorter than Diego Garcia and even F-16s and F-18s can make the trip without refueling on the way in.
WARN? WARN???
Not only that, it spreads the Iranian defenses thinner. Now they have to defend against multiple angles of possible attack instead of knowing basically which direction we were going to be coming from
Petraeus should tell Pelosi to pound sand.
The Rats are nervous. Their trotskyite postmodern semiotician marioneteers are programming in pre-defined outcomes algorythms like Volga oarsmen.
OH WOW! That was post was a thing of beauty.
“Petraeus should tell Pelosi to pound sand.”
In a respectful, professional, military manner that’s exactly what he’ll likely do. This guy still has a pair
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