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Iraq ‘inching’ ahead, Congress told

Political progress in Iraq is inching forward, the top two U.S. officials there told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.

But several committee Democrats blasted Army Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker over their assessments that the Bush administration’s troop surge is working well enough to warrant a continued effort to give the Iraqi government more time to reach political, economic and security goals that to date have remained unrealized and out of reach.

The crowded morning hearing, the first of two in the Senate on Tuesday, was interrupted only twice by protestors — a marked changed from the far more disruptive joint House committee session on the other side of Capitol Hill the day before. But Petraeus and Crocker faced some tough grilling from senators over their assessments, and also were on the receiving end of general critiques of the war effort.

Petraeus defended the reduction of U.S. troops he recommended the previous day, saying “positive developments” in areas such as U.S. military success in suppressing violence, growth of the Iraqi Security Forces and a belief that political progress requires sufficient national security prompted his decision.

Petraeus has recommended beginning a drawdown of the 28,500 surge troops, starting with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit later this month. He noted that he could have requested an additional extension of the MEU’s time on the ground but decided to bring it out as scheduled.

But when asked for an estimate on when Iraq might meet its political benchmarks, progress on which will presumably influence any decision on reducing U.S. troop levels below the pre- and post-surge base force of 130,000, Crocker demurred.

“I think in the past we have set some expectations that simply couldn’t be met,” Crocker said. “It could be well beyond the end of next summer. It certainly will be well beyond the end of next summer before Iraq can achieve the end state I’ve laid out. There’s no question. What that implies for our presence, levels and so forth, I can’t judge at this point.”

According to Petraeus and Crocker, things are getting better in Iraq. “The security situation in Iraq is improving, and Iraqi elements are slowly taking on more of the responsibility for protecting their citizens,” Petraeus told the committee. “Innumerable challenges lie ahead. However, coalition and Iraqi Security Forces have made progress toward achieving sustainable security.

“As a result, the United States will be in a position to reduce its forces in Iraq in the months ahead.”

But, he added, “A premature drawdown of our forces likely would have devastating consequences.”

Several senators questioned whether a withdrawal would make much of a difference.

“What makes you possibly believe that anything further like this is going to produce the results that everyone else has failed to produce over the previous 4 1/2 years?” asked Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.

“To question strategy is not unpatriotic,” said Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., who then echoed the findings of a recent report that called the Iraqi government “dysfunctional” and pointed to the Government Accountability Office’s recent finding that the Iraqis have met only three of their own 18 political, economic and security benchmarks.

“Are we going to continue to invest American blood and treasure at the same rate we are doing now? For what?” Hagel asked. “The president said, ‘Let’s buy time.’ Buy time? For what?”

“There is an enormous amount of dysfunctionality in Iraq,” Crocker agreed. “That is beyond question. The government, in many respects, is dysfunctional, and members of the government know it. There is a lot of discontent about that in and out of government.”

Still, Crocker insisted that violence in Iraq has come down “in a measurable way.”

“We can have lots of debate about what measure is used, but the one that, as a Foreign Service officer, I take the most seriously is the perception among Iraq’s leaders, all the main communities, that the security situation has improved.

“So that suggests to me that, at a minimum now, we’ve got an environment developing — not fully developed, but developing — with violence at low enough levels where a meaningful discussion on national reconciliation can take place. That’s now what needs to happen.”

Related reading:

• Officials: Bush will adopt troop withdrawal

• Petraeus grilled on Iraq troop drawdown

• Analysis: Combat role not shrinking with force