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President
Remains Committed to New Iraq Plan Despite Critics |
Posted:
01.16.07
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President Bush remained steadfast in his plan to send more U.S.
troops to Iraq, even though his new strategy received harsh criticism
from many Democrats and some Republicans.
Printer-friendly version: PDF
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President Bush unveiled a revised plan for Iraq in a live televised
address Jan. 10.
 One
of the elements of his plan was to send 21,000 new troops to help
secure the capital Baghdad, where armed militias have killed thousands
of civilians.
U.S. troops also will work to provide security in the southern
part of the country, called the Anbar province.
"Our troops will have a well-defined mission: to help Iraqis
clear and secure neighborhoods, to help them protect the local
population, and to help ensure that the Iraqi forces left behind
are capable of providing the security that Baghdad needs,"
President Bush said in his address.
To accomplish these goals, the president said he has the support
of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The Iraqi leader said troops will have permission to enter areas
previously off-limits to them due to political and sectarian constraints.
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Sectarian
violence |
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Much of the fighting in
Iraq is between the different religious sects Shiite and Sunni.
During the reign of Saddam Hussein, Sunnis were in control and
life in many ways was easier for them.
The Iraqi government has gone after Sunni militias, but there
are also Shiite groups accused of murdering hundreds of civilians.
 Critics
of Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki, a Shiite, say he has been unwilling
to go after the Shiite militia group known as the Mahdi Army,
which is led by al-Maliki's political ally, cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr.
The cleric's influence on Iraqi politics has hindered past U.S.
attempts to secure some areas of Baghdad, including the Shiite
neighborhood of Sadr City.
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Democratic
reaction split |
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The president's plan, including
the temporary increase in troops referred to by many as a "surge,"
has been criticized by many congressional leaders, especially Democrats.
"Escalation of this war is not the change the American people
called for in the last election," Illinois Senator Richard
Durbin said in the official Democratic response aired after the
president's address.
 "Instead
of a new direction, the president's plan moves the American commitment
in Iraq in the wrong direction."
Some Democrats, like Representative John Murtha from Pennsylvania,
a strong opponent of the war in Iraq, have threatened to cut off
military funding as a way of bringing troops home.
Other Democrats have suggested "softer" alternatives
such as forcing lawmakers to face voter wrath by going on the
record as supporting the surge in Iraq or not.
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Republican
objections |
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Prominent Republicans, such
as Arizona's John McCain, a possible 2008 presidential contender,
have called a troop surge our "last chance."
"What is the option? It's catastrophe. ... The bloodletting
will increase, which means, to me, that we will be back in there,
only under far more difficult circumstances, at some point,"
he said on CBS News Sunday.
 While
most Republicans have publicly supported the president's new plan,
there were several vocal critics.
Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, also seen as a likely presidential
candidate in 2008, met with the Iraqi prime minister last week
in Baghdad.
"I came away from these meetings convinced that the United
States should not increase its involvement until Sunnis and Shia
are more willing to cooperate with each other instead of shooting
at each other," Brownback said in a statement, CNN reported.
Another, Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel, called the additional troops
a "dangerously wrong-headed strategy that will drive America
deeper into an unwinnable swamp at a great cost."
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Response
to critics |
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But President Bush does have the public support of his military
leaders in Iraq.
"As with any plan, there are no guarantees of success, and
it's not going to happen overnight. But with sustained political
support and the concentrated efforts on all sides, I believe that
this plan can work," said General George Casey, commander
of the multi-national force in Iraq.
 And
despite Democratic opposition, the administration has vowed to
move forward with the new plan.
"We have money in the '07 budget, which has been appropriated
by the Congress, to move these troops to Iraq, and the president
will be doing that," national security adviser Stephen Hadley
said on ABC's "This Week."
--
Compiled by Annie Schleicher for NewsHour Extra
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