Washington – The two top U.S. commanders in charge of the Iraq war, appearing separately on a total of four network talk shows Sunday, amended more sobering statements they had made to Congress and reporters last week.
Gen. George Casey, who oversees U.S. forces in Iraq, and Gen. John Abizaid, who leads the U.S. Central Command, stressed the military and political progress being made in Iraq.
“There are peaks and valleys that you go through, but overall the trend is good,” Abizaid told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We’re certainly confident.”
The training of Iraqi security forces is “very much on track,” Casey told ABC’s “This Week.”
On Thursday, Casey said the Iraqi armed forces “will not have an independent capability for some time.”
The day before, he backed away from earlier predictions that a “substantial” number of U.S. troops could be withdrawn early next year. “Right now, we’re in a period of a little greater uncertainty than when I was asked that question back in July and March,” he told reporters Wednesday.
It is not unusual for the administration to send out its top military commanders to clarify or to speak more optimistically about operations after congressional testimony or independent statements to the media that appear more pessimistic than the administration’s position.
On Thursday, the generals also told Congress that the number of Iraqi army battalions that can fight insurgents without U.S. and coalition help had dropped from three to one – meaning about 750 Iraqi troops out of 200,000 being trained were capable of operating independently – and that the security situation was too uncertain to predict large-scale U.S. troop withdrawals any time soon.
Sunday, Casey confirmed that about one-third of the 119 Iraqi battalions are able to conduct operations with some U.S. assistance.
Abizaid, speaking on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” said Iraqi forces were engaged in counterinsurgency operations and are taking more casualties than U.S. forces.
“Are they going to be capable of taking over counterinsurgency leads over the next several months? The answer is yes,” he said.
The generals’ largely optimistic tone during their television appearances Sunday still included grave worries.
Asked on CNN’s “Late Edition” whether he thought that the nearly 2,000 American troops killed in Iraq since the beginning of the war may have died in vain, Casey answered: “No, I don’t worry about that. Not yet – we’re not there yet.”
