Quietly, US strategy in Iraq shifting
A report on the 'surge' could help determine momentum.
from the July 9, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Signs of the growing consensus for a new approach that includes a major reduction in the US footprint in Iraq are visible on several fronts:
•Several prominent Republican senators have recently turned against the White House and are now calling for a change in Iraq strategy. Last week Sen. Pete Domeneci of New Mexico joined Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected US foreign-policy specialist, who a week earlier used a Senate speech to call for a new strategy reducing the US presence in Iraq. George Voinovich of Ohio followed Senator Lugar, while John Warner of Virginia is known to be pressuring the White House to change course.
•Defense Secretary Robert Gates is pressing for a post-"surge" Iraq strategy that would rest on a foundation of broad political consensus around the idea of impeding Iraq from becoming a haven of Islamic extremism. Such a strategy would also keep thousands of US troops in Iraq for a long-term battle with Al Qaeda.
•White House officials acknowledge that the administration is already looking beyond the current approach. Mr. Bush hinted at the priority he is likely to give the fight against Al Qaeda in a July 4 speech where he said the US has no choice but to "win" the Iraq fight "for our own sake, for the security of our citizens."
Democrats are hoping to use a Senate defense authorization bill to be taken up this week to press for troop withdrawals to begin as early as the fall.
Congress is also to receive by July 15 an interim report on the force buildup, ahead of a full assessment by commanders in Iraq in September. Significantly, it was Senator Warner who insisted on the July 15 review, upon the passage of funding for the Iraq war in May, saying that waiting for September was "too long."
Most observers expect efforts to force quick troop withdrawals to fail, as did Democratic efforts to force a timeline for withdrawals earlier this year. But the Democrats are also armed this time around with fresh evidence that Americans want a new Iraq direction – and that they expect a Democratic Congress to do something about it.
A survey by the Rasmussen Reports polling group, conducted last week, found that 53 percent of Americans fault the Democrats for not doing "enough to change President Bush's policies on Iraq." At the same time, 56 percent said they would like to see most combat troops out of Iraq by early next year.
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