Gen. John Abizaid tried every way he could to defend the White House against Democrats.
Photo: AP
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Gen. Abizaid a Washout in Congressional Hearings
// Democrats demand pullout from Iraq
Hearings on Iraq have begun in the U.S. Congress. Commander of the U.S. Central Command Gen. John Abizaid answered before the legislators for the actions of the Bush administration in that country. His attempt to convince the Democrats not to place a deadline on the pullout of American forces from that country was unsuccessful. The Democrats made it clear that a pullout from Iraq was more than just a campaign promise and that they would increase pressure on the White House to speed up the return home of American troops.
The joint hearings conducted by the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Armed Services were the first discussion of Iraq since the Democratic victory in the November 7 elections. The likely 2008 presidential candidates, New York Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton and Arizona Republican John McCain took part in those hearings. The main witness at the hearing was Commander of the U.S. Central Command Gen. John Abizaid, around whom passions have flared on Capitol Hill.
Abizaid understood ahead of time that the opponents of the war in Iraq would hit hard. He nevertheless tried to hold his ground, maintaining that, in spite of the continuing “unacceptably high level of violence,” the advances in Iraq were evident and undeniable. His argument was, in essence, that it would be possible to withdraw American troops from Iraq only after Iraqi forces were fully able to take the country under their control. In that connection, Abizaid suggested that the main attention in the future be paid to the preparation of Iraqi security forces. He urged that no deadline be set for the withdrawal of U.S. forces, saying that naming a date would play into the hands of the opponents of peace in Iraq.
Discussion after the general's speech showed him to be between a rock and a hard place. His position, intended to make peace between the hawks and doves in the American political establishment, satisfied neither side. His statement that sending additional forces to Iraq “will not solve the problem” was hotly disputed by McCain, who repeated his steadfast contention that the failures in Iraq have resulted from poor planning and an insufficient military contingent in the country.
The Democrats also lashed out at Abizaid. Michigan Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, who will take control of the Senate Armed Services Committee next January, made it unambiguously clear that a speedy withdrawal from Iraq was a primary goal for the Democrats. He said that the American people do not agree with the president's “absolute confidence” in victory in Iraq. “We cannot save the Iraqis from themselves,” he commented.
Sen. Clinton spoke with even greater determination. “Hope is not a strategy,” she said. “Hortatory talk about what the Iraqi government must do is getting old. I mean, I have heard over and over again the government must do this, the Iraqi army must do that. Nobody disagrees with that. The brutal fact is, it is not happening.”
The hearings, which add to the pressure on the Bush administration, were accompanied by new American losses in Iraq. The deaths of three more American servicemen were reported yesterday, making a total of ten American deaths there in the last two days.
Sergey Strokan
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 17, 2006
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