Possible redeployment if surge fails, Gates says
"Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates acknowledged Tuesday that Pentagon planners were considering alternative war plans in case the current buildup of forces in Iraq failed to quell ongoing violence in Baghdad.
Although he insisted the administration would give the new offensive the time and funding it needed, Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee that if the strategy did not show the hoped-for results, the military would probably shift its efforts to a strategy centered on moving U.S. troops 'out of harm's way.'
. . . Despite Gates' vow to give the troop buildup the funding and support it needed, he reiterated his view that the increased manpower would be needed only for several months.
. . . The tepid endorsement by some in the Pentagon of the plan . . . has angered Republican advocates.
. . . 'If you're asking somebody in eight months to solve a 1,400-year-old religious dispute, bring people together who have suffered under a dictatorship for 30 years, reconstruct an economy that was raped by a dictator — that's a pretty tall order,' [Sen. Lindsey] Graham said."
source
Spiegel, Peter. (Los Angeles Times). Pentagon considering alternatives for Iraq. February 7, 2007.
posted: friday, february 9, 2007, 10:50 PM ET
update: tuesday, february 13, 2007, 7:45 PM ET
tags: iraq surge redeployment robert gates
Although he insisted the administration would give the new offensive the time and funding it needed, Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee that if the strategy did not show the hoped-for results, the military would probably shift its efforts to a strategy centered on moving U.S. troops 'out of harm's way.'
. . . Despite Gates' vow to give the troop buildup the funding and support it needed, he reiterated his view that the increased manpower would be needed only for several months.
. . . The tepid endorsement by some in the Pentagon of the plan . . . has angered Republican advocates.
. . . 'If you're asking somebody in eight months to solve a 1,400-year-old religious dispute, bring people together who have suffered under a dictatorship for 30 years, reconstruct an economy that was raped by a dictator — that's a pretty tall order,' [Sen. Lindsey] Graham said."
source
Spiegel, Peter. (Los Angeles Times). Pentagon considering alternatives for Iraq. February 7, 2007.
posted: friday, february 9, 2007, 10:50 PM ET
update: tuesday, february 13, 2007, 7:45 PM ET
tags: iraq surge redeployment robert gates
Labels: bush plan, iraq, robert gates, withdrawal
posted by eric at 10:35 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home