Congressional Democrats are warning U.S. Iraq commander General David
Petraeus, and the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, not to attempt to minimize the
seriousness of the situation in Iraq when they testify to Congress next
week. VOA's Dan Robinson re****ts from Capitol Hill.
A few days before General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker appear before
House and Senate committees to deliver their latest update on Iraq, House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi makes clear what she hopes they will not say.
In a news conference together with the chairmen of the House committees on
Armed Services and Foreign Affairs, she refers to the recent fighting in
Iraq's southern ****t city of Basra, saying Petraeus and Crocker should not
attempt to put a positive spin on events.
"We have to know the real ground truths of what is happening there, not
put
a ****ne on events because of a resolution [of the situation in Basra] that
looks less violent when it has in fact been dictated by someone [Iraqi
****ite cleric Moqtada] al-Sadr who can grant or withhold that call for
violence or not," said Nancy Pelosi.
Thursday's news conference came in the wake of seemingly critical comments
by Ambassador Crocker in a New York Times interview about the Iraqi
government's handling of military operations in Basra.
Elaborating during a Baghdad news conference, Crocker indicated again that
Iraqi military decisions caught U.S. forces by surprise. But he described
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as having acted decisively, and praised the
Iraqi military for its ability to plan, execute and adjust its operation.
Whatever versions that emerge between now and next week, lawmakers are
making clear they don't intend to accept a picture that candy coats
(minimizes) the military, political or reconciliation situation.
Democratic House foreign affairs chairman Howard Berman says the Iraqi
government appears, in his words, to have largely frittered away chances
for
political reconciliation:
"The purpose of the [U.S. military] surge was to create political space
for
Iraqis to make meaningful strides toward national reconciliation, but
sectarianism sadly remains the dominant force in Iraq and the sacrifices
involved in getting us to this point don't seem to have put us much closer
to the goal," said Howard Berman.
Democrats will also underscore what they call the heavy strain on U.S.
troops from the five-year conflict in Iraq, damage to U.S. capabilities to
respond to other challenges, and diverting energy from the fight against
al-Qaida and Taliban forces in Afghanistan.
Congressman Berman, and his fellow Democratic House armed services
chairman
Ike Skelton, also expressed new concerns about Iranian involvement in
Iraq:
SKELTON: "Iran is the bull in the china shop. In all of this, they seem to
have links to all of the ****ite groups, whether they be political or
military."
BERMAN: "The most disturbing aspect of the war is the inarguable
strengthening of Iran, the most dangerous state in the Middle East."
Neither man provided information about any new details they might have
obtained about Iranian actions in Iraq.
However, Berman says Iran's role in the events in Basra is something he
and
others will explore with General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker next
week.
|
