Baghdad, Iraq – Defense Secretary Robert Gates found American commanders wary of a proposal to rush more U.S. troops to Iraq as he visited the war-ravaged country Wednesday.
President Bush is considering that idea and others in his search for a fresh path in a 3 1/2-plus-year war that has no end in sight and has lost the support of the American public.
On just his third day in charge of the Pentagon, Gates made the unannounced trip, with the administration under intense pressure to forge a new strategy – and just hours after the president conceded, for the first time, that the U.S. is not winning the conflict.
After meeting with top U.S. generals at Camp Victory, Gates acknowledged concerns that rushing thousands more American troops to the battlefront could allow the Iraqis to slow their effort take control of the country. He said no decisions have been made.
“It’s clearly a consideration,” Gates said of how an infusion of American troops might affect Iraqi leaders. “I think that the commanders out here have expressed a concern about that.”
Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq and one of several generals who met with Gates, said he supports boosting troop levels only when there is a specific purpose for their deployment. Other military leaders have expressed uncertainty over the purpose and results of injecting more troops.
“I’m not necessarily opposed to the idea, but what I want to see happen is when, if we do bring more American troops here, they help us progress to our strategic objectives,” Casey told reporters during a news conference with Gates and other military leaders.
Bush said Wednesday he is considering sending more troops to Iraq but has not made up his mind. No timetables or troop totals have been mentioned publicly, but by some accounts roughly 20,000 troops would be added to the 140,000 already there.
The president is expected to announce his decisions next month – when a new Congress convenes, controlled by Democrats ready to make the war their top concern.
Gates, on his third day on the job, said he would not form a judgment until he has spoken to Iraqi leaders, which he is scheduled to do during his visit.
Also on the trip was Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, plus officials from the State Department, the National Security Council and the White House.
The timing of Gates’ trip, and his entourage, underscored how important the administration believes it is to set a new direction in the Iraq war.
Gates was noncommittal when asked whether the sectarian violence in Baghdad can be quashed without taking action against the Mahdi Army of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Update Developments
New Defense Secretary Robert Gates visits Baghdad, seeking advice from top commanders on a new strategy for Iraq.
U.S. forces hand off control of Najaf province to Iraqi police and soldiers.
Radical Shiite cleric and militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr is considering a one-month unilateral cease-fire and may push his followers to rejoin the political process, officials close to him say.
The U.S. military reports the capture of a senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leader during a raid by coalition troops in Mosul.
A court in the genocide trial of Saddam Hussein hears accounts Wednesday that the former Iraqi leader’s forces beheaded a mentally ill Kurdish man and pushed three other Kurds to their deaths from a helicopter during a crackdown 20 years ago.
Casualties
The U.S. military reports that two soldiers were killed by separate roadside bombs Wednesday in Baghdad.
Police find 76 bodies in Baghdad, some of them blindfolded and handcuffed.
Two suicide car bombings killed at least 19 people in the capital.
Gunmen kill veteran Iraqi actor Mitashar al-Sudani, 60, targeting a well-known figure apparently as part of a campaign to create a climate of fear and intimidation.
