Chinese School - Casey: Only half of troop boost needed

WORLD / America

Casey: Only half of troop boost needed

(AP)
Updated: 2007-02-02 08:46

WASHINGTON - The outgoing top US general in Iraq diplomatically aired his
differences with the commander in chief on Thursday, telling lawmakers
that President Bush has ordered thousands more troops into Iraq than
needed to tamp down violence in Baghdad.

US General George Casey, top US commander in Iraq, testifies before the
Senate Armed Services Committee during a hearing on his nomination as
Army Chief of Staff, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. [AFP]

Gen. George Casey quickly added he understood how his recently confirmed
successor, Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, could want the full complement of
21,500 additional troops that Bush has ordered to Iraq. Casey said they
could "either reinforce success, maintain momentum or put more forces in
a place where the plans are not working."

As the general spoke at a Senate confirmation hearing into his nomination
to become Army chief of staff, the full Senate lurched toward a widely
anticipated debate on the administration's policy, the first since
midterm elections in which opposition to the war helped install a new
Democratic majority.

One day after critics of Bush's revised war strategy merged two competing
Senate measures, the White House worked to hold down the number of GOP
defections while two liberal Democrats attacked the compromise as too
weak.

"It is essentially an endorsement of the status quo, an endorsement I
simply cannot make in light of the dire circumstances in Iraq and the
need for meaningful action now," said Sen. Christopher Dodd of
Connecticut, who is seeking the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Casey endured occasional sharp criticism as he appeared before the Senate
Armed Services Committee.

"I do not in any way question your honor, your patriotism or your service
to our country, I do question some of the decisions and judgments you
have made over the past two and a half years as commander of
Multi-National Forces in Iraq," said Sen. John McCain , R-Ariz. "During
that time, things have gotten markedly and progressively worse, and the
situation in Iraq can now best be described as dire and deteriorating."

So far, no senators have announced plans to oppose Casey's elevation to
chief of staff, although McCain, as well as Sens. Lindsey Graham , R-S.C.
and Joseph Lieberman , I-Conn., said they were undecided how to vote.

In the peculiar politics surrounding the Iraq War, the three lawmakers
are among the strongest critics of the nonbinding legislation. It would
criticize the president's decision to increase troop levels as a way of
stabilizing Baghdad nearly four years after Saddam Hussein was forced
from power.

They said they intend to advance an alternative measure setting out the
goals that should be met by the Iraqi government, and pledging whatever
resources Petraeus requests. "We've come to the conclusion that the
Petraeus strategy ... to buy some time for political reconciliation is
our best chance for victory," said Graham.

Critics of the war, including most Senate Democrats and several
Republicans, appeared to be coalescing around a revised measure advanced
by Sen. John Warner , R-Va., and a group of lawmakers of both parties. It
says the Senate "disagrees with the `plan' to augment our forces by
21,500, and urges the president instead to consider all options and
alternatives."

Many Democrats had been supporters of a stronger measure, one declaring
that Bush's plan for more troops was "not in the national interest."

That criticism was jettisoned Wednesday night when the revised measure
was unveiled, as Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada maneuvered to pick
up Republican votes. Additionally, the new measure says Congress "should
not take any action that will endanger United States military forces in
the field, including the elimination or reduction of funds for troops in
the field," a provision that Republicans said was designed to outflank
Democrats eager to rein in Bush's policy.

Several officials said Reid told a closed-door caucus during the day that
lawmakers would have an opportunity to vote for binding restrictions on
Bush's war policy in the coming months.

"For me it was a reassurance" that the Senate's hands would not be tied
to end the war but troops would still be protected, said James Webb , a
Virginia Democrat elected last fall as a critic of the war.

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