One step forward, two steps back
The war in Iraq was front and center on Capitol Hill last week. U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus made their marathon rounds to the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, followed by their appearance before the House Armed Services Committee and House International Relations Committee on Wednesday.
In what was billed as an update on the progress and problems of the war in Iraq, the star witness was clearly Gen. Petraeus. Complete with visual aids, he gave a sober, detailed analysis of the military situation on the ground in Iraq. He also announced his recommendations to President Bush on the way forward for U.S. forces in Iraq in the near future.
Gen. Petraeus asserted that the security situation is improving in Iraq, despite recent outbreaks of violence in Basra and Baghdad, and that Iraq’s security forces are getting better, despite their spotty performance during the Basra and Baghdad battles.
Other highlights of his testimony included recommending a 45-day ‘period of consolidation and evaluation,’ once the five brigade combat teams that made up the so-called ‘surge’ forces leave Iraq in July. He said future force reductions should be based on conditions in and around Iraq, not on predetermined timetables. He also cited the need to keep a close watch on Iraq’s neighbor and former foe Iran, which remains a military and political threat to Iraq.
Predictably, the testimony of Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker was met with mixed reactions by their inquisitors from both sides of the aisle in the Senate and House committees. Supporters, mostly Republicans, lauded the success of the surge and praised the service and sacrifice of our men and women in Iraq. Critics, mostly Democrats, were less enthusiastic about the surge, but also praised our armed forces serving in Iraq.
In my view, the Senate hearings were more substantive and more civil than their House counterparts. Even presidential hopefuls Sens. Clinton, McCain and Obama were present for their ‘day jobs’ to pose probing, but pertinent, questions to Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker.
Conversely, many of the House Committee questions were punctuated by posturing and pontificating. Call me cynical, but I think their relative lack of substance and civility reflects the reality of reelection theoretically facing every House member this November, compared with only about a third of the Senate. It also reflects some of the fundamental differences in the structure and powers of the Senate and the House.
Gen. Petraeus has cautioned all who will listen that the progress made since the surge began has improved the situation in Iraq, but conditions remain ‘fragile and reversible.’ In other words, it still looks like ‘one step forward and two steps back’ in Iraq ,with the military making impressive gains, so far not matched by sufficient successes on the political and economic fronts.
Meanwhile, the United States Army and Marine Corps are being stretched thinner and thinner, with potentially dire consequences for military morale, esprit de corps and combat readiness. More on that later.
Retired Army Col. Thomas B. Vaughn can be reached at [email protected].