Petraeus: ‘Surge’ meets objectives
Top general in Iraq says troops could return to “pre-surge level” by July 2008.
He said that a “premature drawdown of our forces would likely have devastating consequences”.
Civilian fatalities
“Iraq is still under foreign occupation and Iraqis continue to die in great numbers” albaghawy, Luxembourg |
But Crocker warned it would be slow coming and said a new Iraq had to be built “from scratch”.
Crocker also said that Iran “will be a winner” if the US leaves Iraq by consolidating the country’s influence over the country and its resources.
Petraeus’ assessment of Iraq |
“I believe that we will be able to reduce our troop presence to pre-surge levels by next summer.” “The level of civilian deaths is clearly still too high and continues to be of serious concern.” “Al-Qaeda is still not defeated. However, it is off balance and we are pursuing its |
Skelton opened the session by welcoming attendees to “probably the most important hearing of the year”.
Leaks ahead of Petraeus’ testimony exacerbated sharp political divisions in the US and Petraeus began his speech stressing the testimony was his own and had not been shown to anyone in the Pentagon or White House prior to it being distributed to congress.
Addressing congress before Petraeus’ testimony, Tom Lantos, a senior Democrat, described the Bush administration’s policy in Iraq as “myopic”.
‘Fiasco’
Kimberly Halkett, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Washington, says Bush has great faith in Petraeus and Crocker and was reportedly not going to listen to the hearing.
Petraeus fulfilled predictions that he would ask for more time to fully implement his strategy and approve a partial troop withdrawal.
Josh Rushing, Al Jazeera’s military analyst, said the offer to bring home US troops was a “political bone”.
Key comments by Ryan Crocker |
“It is possible for the United States to see its goals realised in Iraq.” “It is no exaggeration to say Iraq is … a traumatised society.” “Iraqis are facing the most profound political and economic challenges imaginable.”
“The trajectory of political, economic and diplomatic developments in Iraq is upwards, although the slope of that line is not steep.” “The seeds of reconciliation are being planted.”
“Prime Minister Maliki and other Iraqi leaders face enormous obstacles in efforts to govern effectively.”
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He said: “The army can’t sustain the deployment they have now without changing the rotation system.
“So he’s looking at having to draw down by next spring. They are overstretched.”
Zibakalam Sadegh, a professor of political science at Tehran university, dismissed claims by Crocker that Iran would benefit from continued instability in Iraq.
“Whatever has gone wrong and whenever there are security failures, they keep blaming Iran for that,” he told Al Jazeera.
“None of the American leaders have ever been able to answer the simple question of ‘what has Iran to gain from insecurity in Iraq?’.
“Indeed, Iran has everything to gain from a stable Iraq.”
Further congressional hearings will take place on Tuesday when the two men will discuss whether the overall strategy in the country is working.