E-mail a friendMarch 21, 2007
Roundup: Iraq Troop Surge
Despite polls indicating that most Americans oppose sending additional troops to Iraq, the president has made such a proposal the centerpiece of his new plan. Journalists and foreign policy experts weigh in on how a surge of U.S. troops will impact the situation in Iraq.
Gov. Bill Richardson
"I think we have to pull out, but with a diplomatic plan that allows Iraq to retain its identity, its security, its sovereignty. What I would do is get the troops out this year, determined by the military. But I would also have a reconciliation conference, a coalition government of the three religious sects in Iraq, coupled with Iran and Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt, securing a conference to provide Iraqi security and reconstruction."
Gov. Bill Richardson
Governor, New Mexico
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Rep. Henry Waxman
"We gave Bush a blank check on Iraq, and we have a complete mess. Not only in Iraq, but throughout the Middle East, with a civil war going on in that country that could expand to other countries in the Muslim world. The president's asked for more money. If we could deny him the money for the escalation, or what he calls the surge, we ought to do that."
Rep. Henry Waxman
Democrat, California
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Sen. Norm Coleman
"I have a concern about the surge in Baghdad. By the way, I separate that from the fighting that's going on in places like Anbar, where we're fighting Al-Qaeda, we're fighting foreign fighters, we're fighting the insurgency. But I worry about putting our men and women, in the crosshairs of sectarian civil war in Baghdad."
Sen. Norm Coleman
Republican, Minnesota
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Rep. Steny Hoyer
"They've tried this so-called surge on at least a couple of occasions in Baghdad, and it has not brought security. It is very doubtful in anybody's mind that the U.S. military can win this battle. That's why the president, I think, got a very measured, skeptical response from both Democrats and Republicans last night [at the State of the Union address]."
Rep. Steny Hoyer
House Majority Leader
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Jay Carney
"He tried to sell the troop surge in his speech last week. It's not selling particularly well. But he's the Commander in Chief, and he has the leverage to pursue this plan for the time being, and to hope and cross his fingers that it will work, that some sort of progress can be made in Iraq."
Jay Carney
Time Magazine Washington bureau chief
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Nicholas Burns
"I hope Americans will listen to the president's way forward on Iraq. All of us have so much invested in success in Iraq. All of us who are American citizens. We have so many troops overseas. We wanna see them succeed; we wanna protect them."
Nicholas Burns
U.S. Under Secretary of State
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Thomas L. Friedman
"When I hear people talking about this surge [of troops to Baghdad], you know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of a couple; they get married, and the wedding never quite takes. The bond never quite takes. And then they say, 'You know what? Let's have a baby. Things'll get better then.' Or, 'Let's buy a house.'
If you don't have the underlying bond, if you put a baby or a home mortgage on top of that, it tends to really collapse. So what I've really been focused on all along is do we have a real framework in Iraq of reconciliation between the Kurds and the Shi'a and the Sunni that you can actually build something on? And if we do, then something is possible there. But if we don't, then nothing is possible there."
Thomas L. Friedman
New York Times columnist
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
John Burns
"America is in this place, and it's got to find some kind of honorable exit that doesn't lead to catastrophe. So the new American military commanders, one of whom has already arrived, who are taking a tougher line, who are going to support President Bush in this surge of bringing in more troops, think that they can, if things go their way, stabilize the situation in Baghdad.
That will be something. It will be a very large something. Because after that, then they could perhaps go on to try and stabilize things elsewhere. I think it's too late to write this off completely, but it certainly is five minutes to midnight."
John Burns
New York Times Baghdad bureau chief
Tuesday, January 8, 2007
David Ignatius
"I worry that President Bush still has in mind a more traditional idea of victory. You can understand why. No president would ever wanna sign off on something short of a total victory, but I worry that that's gonna lead him into making a mistake in this crucial review of Iraq policy that's going on now, in which he may send in as many as 30,000 additional troops, march those troops up to the top of the hill again, just as we did in 2003, without a clear plan for how we're gonna get them back down to the bottom."
David Ignatius
Washington Post columnist
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Richard Haass
"Right now, he's reluctant to let go of the idea that this is still going to succeed, and all that's missing is a little more American effort. Well, if that's the case, there's many people who are saying, 'Well, let's give it the extra effort. It probably won't succeed, but then at least the president will be prepared to face a reality that he's not yet prepared to accept.'"
Richard Haass
President, Council on Foreign Relations
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Will more U.S. troops help the situation in Iraq?
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