Bush advised not to slash Iraq force

ASSOCIATED PRESS

President Bush’s senior advisers on Iraq have recommended he stand by his current war strategy, and he is unlikely to order more than a symbolic cut in troops before the end of the year, administration officials told the Associated Press yesterday.

The recommendations from the military commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker were made despite government findings yesterday that Baghdad has not met most of the political, military and economic markers set by Congress.

Mr. Bush appears set on maintaining the central elements of the policy he announced in January, one senior administration official said after discussions with participants in Mr. Bush’s briefings during his surprise visit to an air base in Iraq on Monday.

Although the addition of 30,000 troops and the focus on increasing security in Baghdad would not be permanent, Mr. Bush is inclined to give it more time in hopes of extending military gains in Baghdad and the formerly restive Anbar province, officials said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe decisions coming as part of the White House report on Iraq expected by Congress next week.

On Capitol Hill, U.S. Comptroller General David Walker yesterday said Congress should debate whether U.S. troops are in Iraq to fight al Qaeda or whether their purpose is to provide security to the general population.

“They’re fundamentally different things,” he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “I think Congress ought to have a debate … what are we going to do and what are going to try to accomplish?”

Mr. Walker’s testimony accompanied the release of a report by the Government Accountability Office saying that violence in Iraq remains high, fewer Iraqi security forces are capable of acting independently, and the Baghdad legislature has failed to reach major political agreements.

The GAO determined that Iraq has partially met four out of 18 political and security goals set by the Democratic-led Congress.

Democrats said the GAO report, which was widely reported last week, showed that Mr. Bush’s decision to send more troops to Iraq was failing because Baghdad was not making the political progress needed to reduce sectarian violence.

“No matter what spin we may hear in the coming days, this independent assessment is a failing grade for a policy that simply isn’t working,” said Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat.

The White House and Republican leaders dismissed GAO’s findings.

“The GAO report really amounts to asking someone to kick an 80-yard field goal and criticizing them when they came up 20 or 25 yards short,” said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican.

With Monday’s back-to-back review sessions in Iraq, Mr. Bush has now heard from all the military chiefs, diplomats and other advisers he planned to consult before making a widely anticipated report to Congress by Sept. 15. Gen. Petraeus and Mr. Crocker are to testify before Congress on their recommendations next week.

The United States would be hard pressed to maintain the current level of 130,000 troops in Iraq indefinitely, but Mr. Bush is not expected to order more than a slight cut before the end of the year, officials said.