It’s good to see that someone in authority is willing to speak realistically about Iraq, and who better than Gen. David Petraeus?
As policymakers dueled on Capitol Hill this week, the commander of U.S. forces portrayed the trends of violence in Iraq and the challenges facing the U.S. military.
“The operational environment in Iraq is the most complex and challenging I have ever seen,” Petraeus said at a Pentagon news conference. “This effort may get harder before it gets easier.”
Petraeus’ remarks came as Congress approved a $124 billion war spending measure, requiring U.S. troop withdrawals to begin Oct. 1, or sooner if the Iraqi government does not meet certain benchmarks established by President Bush, such as making progress in disarming militias. The goal is to finally end combat after five years, by next April 1.
The White House called the legislation political theater, and indeed it is that. But the withdrawal deadline is not hard and fast and some observers have noted that it would allow forces to remain in Iraq indefinitely to conduct counterterrorism missions, protect U.S. infrastructure and personnel and train Iraqi forces.
Congress is showing its determination to change the course of a war that most Americans no longer support. An NBC poll released yesterday showed that a majority of Americans no longer believe a victory in Iraq is possible and support establishing a deadline to begin withdrawal.
Petraeus has given himself a deadline of sorts. He says he’ll make an assessment in September as to whether the current U.S. troop escalation is working. That provides a four-month stretch to overcome hostilities in Baghdad and elsewhere across Iraq. For now, the overall level of violence in Iraq remains the same, he said, despite a drop in neighborhood murders stemming from a crackdown on sectarian insurgents.
We hope that by September there is adequate progress for Petraeus to report that Iraqis have undertaken a political solution that restores security throughout Iraq’s Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities.
Meanwhile, Bush will veto Congress’ funding measure next week, setting up a showdown with majority Democrats. In the end, both sides should strike a compromise in order to assure adequate funding for deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Louis Fisher, an expert on presidential war powers at the Library of Congress, was quoted saying this week, “Congress has a right to do what it’s doing. We still have civilian supremacy in this country, which still includes Congress.” And the White House, too, is guaranteeing more political drama to come. The policymakers need to tone down their bravado and be realistic about the Iraqi misadventure.
