Former U.S. Officials Examine President’s Iraq Stance

Read the Full Transcript

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  For months, President Bush and his aides created a sense of anticipation for this week's Iraq update.

  GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States: I'm going to wait for David to come back.

• TONY SNOW, White House Press Secretary:

  That would be General Petraeus.

• GEORGE W. BUSH:

  General Petraeus…

  JOSHUA BOLTEN, White House Chief of Staff: All of those data points will be taken into account by General Petraeus.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  The senior field commander in Iraq was called upon to be the principal advocate for a policy and administration that polls show to be increasingly unpopular with the American public. A recent New York Times survey said only 5 percent of the nation trusts the Bush administration to successfully resolve the Iraq war.

  As divisions hardened over the war in Congress, General Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker arrived on Capitol Hill this week to provide their assessment. Petraeus reported tactical gains on the ground.

  GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, Commander, U.S. Forces in Iraq: The military objectives of the surge are, in large measure, being met.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  The general also recommended the gradual return home of the surge force, some 30,000 troops. However, in their testimony, the two officials acknowledged the military success had not led to its stated political goal: giving the Iraqis time and space to achieve reconciliation among warring sects.

  RYAN CROCKER, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq: There is an enormous amount of dysfunctionality in Iraq. That is beyond question. The government, in many respects, is dysfunctional, and members of the government know it.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Despite the mixed assessment, both men said a heavy price would be paid should the United States exit Iraq too quickly.

• GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS:

  A rapid withdrawal would result in the further release of the strong centrifugal forces in Iraq and produce a number of dangerous results.

• RYAN CROCKER:

  An Iraq that falls into chaos or civil war will mean massive human suffering well beyond what has already occurred within Iraq's borders. It could well invite the intervention of regional states, all of which see their future connected to Iraq's in some fundamental way.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  And rather than proposing changes in current policy, Petraeus and Crocker recommended that the American enterprise in Iraq be given another six months until a further assessment is made. They encountered both hearty encouragement and pointed critiques during their 17 hours of testimony over two days.

  REP. IKE SKELTON (D), Missouri: Mr. Ambassador, why should we in Congress expect the next six months to be any different than it has been in the past?

  SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), Arizona: We're getting it right because we finally have in place a strategy that can succeed.

  SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), Illinois: Now we just have the levels of intolerable violence that existed in June of 2006.

  REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R), California: And that's a candid, independent assessment, given with integrity, in the same tradition of MacArthur and Eisenhower and Schwarzkopf.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  The general said he was presenting what he called "honest, candid testimony."

• GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS:

  I'm not a pessimist or an optimist at this point. I'm a realist about Iraq, and Iraq is hard.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  But on one critical question, Petraeus said he could not provide an answer.

  SEN. JOHN WARNER (R), Virginia: If we continue what you have laid before the Congress here as a strategy, do you feel that that is making America safer?

• GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS:

  Sir, I believe that this is, indeed, the best course of action to achieve our objectives in Iraq.

• SEN. JOHN WARNER:

  Does that make America safer?

• GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS:

  Sir, I don't know, actually. I have not sat down and sorted out in my own mind. What I have focused on and been riveted on is how to accomplish the mission of the Multinational Force Iraq.