Kissinger pessimistic about Iraq victory
Bush faces rising criticism over Iraq
By Brian Knowlton / International Herald Tribune
Published: November 19, 2006
WASHINGTON: Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, a man who regularly advises President George W. Bush on Iraq, said Sunday that a full military victory was no longer possible there. He thus joined a growing number of leading conservatives openly challenging the administration's conduct of the war.
"If you mean, by 'military victory,' an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control in a time period that the political processes of the democracies will support, I don't believe that is possible," Kissinger told the British Broadcasting Corp.
In Washington, a leading Republican supporter of the war, Senator John McCain of Arizona, said that U.S. troops in Iraq were "fighting and dying for a failed policy." But he continued to argue vigorously for a short-term surge in U.S. forces, and he gained a vocal ally in Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, another influential Republican, who said, "We're going to lose this war if we don't adjust quickly."
The comments came at a sensitive time, just as the Bush administration, deeply frustrated by the persistent chaos in Iraq - where more than 50 people died in violence Sunday - and stung by Republicans' electoral setbacks Nov. 7, has undertaken an intense search for new approaches to the war.
Kissinger, in the BBC interview, said that the United States must open a dialogue with Iraq's neighbors, pointedly including Iran, if progress is to be possible. Bush has said the United States was ready for such talks, but only if Iran moved to halt its nuclear enrichment work. U.S. officials say low-level talks with Syria have produced little progress.
But Kissinger also said that a hasty withdrawal from Iraq would have "disastrous consequences," leaving not only Iraq but neighboring countries with large Shiite populations destabilized for years. He said the United States would probably have to chart a road between military victory and total withdrawal.
The comments reflected a markedly more pessimistic view than Kissinger had expressed publicly in the past. The book "State of Denial" by Bob Woodward quotes Kissinger as saying in September 2005 that the only exit strategy for Iraq was victory.
Analysts of the Pentagon, State Department and other agencies are working feverishly to complete a report for the White House meant to lay out U.S. options in Iraq.
They hope to do so before a much- awaited review from a bipartisan commission headed by former Secretary of State James Baker, which is expected by mid-December. The Baker group has sought Kissinger's advice.
As those projects go forward, three proposals - not necessarily mutually exclusive - have emerged, and on Sunday, senior lawmakers argued them all: to quickly begin a phased troop withdrawal as a means to compel the Iraqi government to seize greater responsibilities; to temporarily increase U.S. troop strength to bolster security before initiating a withdrawal; and to engage Iraq's neighbors in talks aimed at halting their support for unrest in Iraq.
McCain, a respected figure on military matters who is exploring a presidential campaign in 2008, has argued before for more troops, and he made the case passionately on Sunday.
"I believe the consequences of failure are catastrophic," McCain said on ABC- TV. "It will spread to the region. You will see Iran more emboldened."
Graham, a fellow member of the Armed Services Committee, had hinted on Thursday, when his committee questioned General John Abizaid, commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, that he backed McCain; and he made that clear on Sunday.
"We need an overwhelming presence in Iraq for the short term," he said on CBS-TV.
Abizaid said Thursday that while the U.S. military could find an additional 20,000 troops for a short deployment, the ability to stay longer was "simply not something that we have right now with the size of the Army and the Marine Corps."
Graham said he disagreed with Kissinger about the impossibility of a military victory. But as someone who was able to visit the souks of Baghdad to buy a rug on his first Iraq visit - but had to travel in a tank during his latest - Graham said that matters were "absolutely" worse. ...
To read the full article from the International Herald Tribune, click on:
IHT
By Brian Knowlton / International Herald Tribune
Published: November 19, 2006
WASHINGTON: Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, a man who regularly advises President George W. Bush on Iraq, said Sunday that a full military victory was no longer possible there. He thus joined a growing number of leading conservatives openly challenging the administration's conduct of the war.
"If you mean, by 'military victory,' an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control in a time period that the political processes of the democracies will support, I don't believe that is possible," Kissinger told the British Broadcasting Corp.
In Washington, a leading Republican supporter of the war, Senator John McCain of Arizona, said that U.S. troops in Iraq were "fighting and dying for a failed policy." But he continued to argue vigorously for a short-term surge in U.S. forces, and he gained a vocal ally in Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, another influential Republican, who said, "We're going to lose this war if we don't adjust quickly."
The comments came at a sensitive time, just as the Bush administration, deeply frustrated by the persistent chaos in Iraq - where more than 50 people died in violence Sunday - and stung by Republicans' electoral setbacks Nov. 7, has undertaken an intense search for new approaches to the war.
Kissinger, in the BBC interview, said that the United States must open a dialogue with Iraq's neighbors, pointedly including Iran, if progress is to be possible. Bush has said the United States was ready for such talks, but only if Iran moved to halt its nuclear enrichment work. U.S. officials say low-level talks with Syria have produced little progress.
But Kissinger also said that a hasty withdrawal from Iraq would have "disastrous consequences," leaving not only Iraq but neighboring countries with large Shiite populations destabilized for years. He said the United States would probably have to chart a road between military victory and total withdrawal.
The comments reflected a markedly more pessimistic view than Kissinger had expressed publicly in the past. The book "State of Denial" by Bob Woodward quotes Kissinger as saying in September 2005 that the only exit strategy for Iraq was victory.
Analysts of the Pentagon, State Department and other agencies are working feverishly to complete a report for the White House meant to lay out U.S. options in Iraq.
They hope to do so before a much- awaited review from a bipartisan commission headed by former Secretary of State James Baker, which is expected by mid-December. The Baker group has sought Kissinger's advice.
As those projects go forward, three proposals - not necessarily mutually exclusive - have emerged, and on Sunday, senior lawmakers argued them all: to quickly begin a phased troop withdrawal as a means to compel the Iraqi government to seize greater responsibilities; to temporarily increase U.S. troop strength to bolster security before initiating a withdrawal; and to engage Iraq's neighbors in talks aimed at halting their support for unrest in Iraq.
McCain, a respected figure on military matters who is exploring a presidential campaign in 2008, has argued before for more troops, and he made the case passionately on Sunday.
"I believe the consequences of failure are catastrophic," McCain said on ABC- TV. "It will spread to the region. You will see Iran more emboldened."
Graham, a fellow member of the Armed Services Committee, had hinted on Thursday, when his committee questioned General John Abizaid, commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, that he backed McCain; and he made that clear on Sunday.
"We need an overwhelming presence in Iraq for the short term," he said on CBS-TV.
Abizaid said Thursday that while the U.S. military could find an additional 20,000 troops for a short deployment, the ability to stay longer was "simply not something that we have right now with the size of the Army and the Marine Corps."
Graham said he disagreed with Kissinger about the impossibility of a military victory. But as someone who was able to visit the souks of Baghdad to buy a rug on his first Iraq visit - but had to travel in a tank during his latest - Graham said that matters were "absolutely" worse. ...
To read the full article from the International Herald Tribune, click on:
IHT
posted by Pax Christi @ Monday, November 20, 2006
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