[NYTr] "The Surge Must Go On" Petraeus to tell Congress

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

The Guardian - Sep 10, 2007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2165946,00.html

The surge must go on, Petraeus to tell Congress

· General to testify amid claims he lacks credibility
· Majority of US public want troop reduction, says poll

by Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington

The Bush administration's most senior advisers on Iraq, the commander
of US forces, General David Petraeus, and the ambassador to Baghdad,
Ryan Crocker, will launch a new drive today to defer any exit of troops
until April 2008 amid growing doubts about their credibility in
Congress and among the public.

In two days of testimony before Congress, Gen Petraeus and Mr Crocker
will make the case for the White House that America should maintain the
current strategy and force levels in Iraq.

The appearance of Gen Petraeus has drawn comparisons with General
William Westmoreland's bullish assessment in 1967 of progress in the
Vietnam war, a note underlined by Democratic senators yesterday who
said they doubted that the general's testimony would be free of
influence from the Bush administration.

"I don't think General Petraeus has an independent view," Dianne
Feinstein, a prominent Democratic senator from California, told Fox
television.

Dick Durbin, the second ranking Democrat in the Senate, was even more
blunt. He told reporters: "By carefully manipulating the statistics the
Bush Petraeus report will try and persuade us that the strategy is
working."

The scepticism about Gen Petraeus's candour was reflected in a new
Washington Post/ABC News poll yesterday revealing that more than half
of Americans believe that Gen Petraeus will attempt to sugar-coat the
situation in Iraq. Some 66% believe that Mr Bush will resist any exit
from Iraq, no matter what the general says in his testimony to Congress.

The same poll found the proportion of Americans believing the surge is
working was under 30%. It also found a new high of 58% of Americans
supporting a reduction in the US military presence in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the grassroots liberal organisation MoveOn.org said it would
publish a full-page ad today in the New York Times headlined: "General
Betray Us? Cooking the books for the White House."

The general has suggested in a series of interviews over the last few
days that he opposed a withdrawal of US forces before the spring when
the current troop deployments come to an end.

He has also signalled his intention to shift the focus from the failure
of the central aim of the surge. The additional troops were sent to
Iraq last January to give breathing space to the government of Nuri
al-Maliki so it could effect political reconciliation. With no sign of
progress from the central Iraqi government, Gen Petraeus will try to
direct the public's attention to the marginal gains made in local
security in Anbar province.

Democratic senators took issue yesterday with the general's attempts to
recast the mission. "The fact of the matter is that this idea of the
security gains we have made have had no impact on the underlying
security dynamic, none whatsoever," senator Joe Biden, the head of the
foreign affairs committee and a candidate for the presidential
election, told NBC television.

Mr Crocker has given little advance indication of what he will say in
his testimony, but the Associated Press reported at the weekend that he
would support Gen Petraeus's position that the troops surge is the only
way to stop Iraq descending into further chaos. A career diplomat with
numerous tours in the Middle East, Mr Crocker opposed the US invasion
of Iraq, but has since argued that it would be dangerous for Washington
to abandon the fragile Maliki government.

Mr Crocker is also expected to discuss the continuing problems of
corruption and the difficulties of drafting crucial laws on sharing oil
revenues.

The testimony from Gen Petraeus and Mr Crocker leads off a week of
public debate about the progress of the war. The discussion overlaps
with commemorations to mark the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks
tomorrow. The debate will set the stage for a televised address by Mr
Bush, possibly on Thursday night, in which he will explain to the
American public how he intends to go forward in an unpopular war.

In a preview of his address, Mr Bush told reporters on his way back
from an economic summit in Australia that he was cheered by his
lightning visit to Iraq last week. "No question there's still hard work
to do, but my resolve is as strong as it's ever been."

A week in the war

The testimony today to the Senate armed services committee by General
David Petraeus, the commander of US forces in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker,
the US ambassador to Baghdad, launches a week of public debate about
George Bush's war strategy. The two men are to give Congress their
assessment of the situation in Iraq following the deployment of an
additional 30,000 US troops earlier this year. Gen Petraeus and Mr
Crocker have a second day of testimony before the armed services
committee tomorrow. Gen Petraeus is also scheduled to hold a press
conference on Wednesday. The events are a lead-up to President George
Bush's report on the progress of the war, which he must deliver by
Saturday, September 15. He is expected to address the American people
on Thursday night.