Ford warns Bush not to overstate progress in Iraq

The Tennessee Democrat and U.S. Senate hopeful wrote a letter to the president following a two-day trip to Iraq. Ford said he wanted an idea of how to better allocate spending in Iraq.

Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, in charge of training Iraqi troops, and other military officials briefed Ford and six other congressmen on the current training progress.

Petraeus told them that only three of the 107 battalions have been fully trained to defend Iraq. The United States hopes to set up 120 Iraqi security battalions.

“There’s no need to overstate the progress we’re making on the ground,” Ford told The Associated Press on Friday. “You risk losing America’s confidence.”

White House spokesman David Almacy said Friday night the administration’s goal is to remain in Iraq as long as it takes to properly train the country’s security battalions.

“We are working toward self-reliance with Iraqi security forces,” he said. “We feel that there has been progress there and that Iraq is on its way to being a free country that can defend itself from any potential harm.”

Almacy said that the number of battalions have grown to more than 100 after having none in May 2003 and just one in January 2004.

“As troops are trained, various battalions are in different stages,” he said.

Petraeus has said that insurgent intimidation of Iraqi soldiers has hampered U.S. efforts to build a reliable security force.

In his letter, Ford also asks President Bush for an honest appraisal of Iran and Syria’s influence on insurgency activity.

“Every senior Iraqi government official we met assailed Iran’s growing involvement in fomenting insurgent activity in Iraq,” he wrote. “However, to my surprise, U.S. intelligence and military officials in Iraq flatly rejected the Iraqi government’s position on the matter.”

Ford said Friday that the United States needs a better international image to earn the support of allies while fighting terrorism.

“The time he has spent pushing his Social Security plan, if he would spend a third of that time trying to repair our image around the world,” he said.

Ford, who has traveled to Iraq on several occasions, said he probably won’t return to the country anytime soon with Congress back in session and the upcoming U.S. Senate race. Ford recently entered the 2006 U.S. Senate race to replace Majority Leader Bill Frist, who has said he will not run for re-election.