Iraq debate: General's plan creates dilemma for both parties

WASHINGTON — With his proposal to reduce the number of troops in Iraq by next summer, the top U.S. commander in Iraq might have upended the debate in the Capitol, causing both parties to recalibrate their positions.

In a much-anticipated appearance, Gen. David Petraeus told Congress on Monday that he's recommended the withdrawal of 30,000 U.S. forces by mid-July.

Democrats, who have been struggling all year to force President Bush to begin pulling troops out of Iraq, now face the prospect that he will agree with Petraeus and do just that. The proposed drawdown would not be as fast or deep as Democrats have wanted, but it could undermine support for their push to order a major withdrawal.

Republicans, meanwhile, will have to decide whether to continue to stand by the White House for at least another year as tens of thousands of U.S. combat troops remain in the volatile country in the run-up to next year's congressional elections.

The drawdown would still leave about 130,000 troops there, as many as when Bush announced the buildup in January. Petraeus said he couldn't yet say when the rest could be withdrawn. Polls show that some 60 percent of Americans want to set a timetable to bring the troops home.

Petraeus did propose speeding up slightly the withdrawal of 30,000 U.S. troops deployed in this year's buildup of force levels in Iraq, pulling out about 2,000 this month and the rest by next summer.

Bush, who has said he will rely heavily on Petraeus' advice, is expected to make a major policy announcement on Iraq later this week.

Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, predicted that Iraq eventually will take over its own security and form a stable, democratic government, though, as Petraeus put it, "doing so will be neither quick nor easy."

Their testimony of more than six hours — interrupted repeatedly by anti-war protesters who were hauled away by police — came as congressional Democrats prepare to push anew to force a speedier withdrawal from Iraq.

Senior Democrats pronounced the buildup a failure, highlighting the lack of progress by Iraqi leaders in taking concrete steps to bring together the country's warring ethnic and religious communities.

"The situation in Iraq cries out for a dramatic change of course," said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, D-Calif. "It is time to go and to go now."

For their part, GOP leaders again derided Democrats' withdrawal demands by focusing on the increasing stability in Iraq's Anbar province, where U.S. commanders have highlighted recent efforts by Sunni tribal leaders to help drive out Islamic terrorists.

"Pushing for a precipitous withdrawal now, just as security gains are being realized and as the first critical steps toward political reconciliation are being taken, would thrust the Middle East into chaos and place our national security at substantial risk for generations to come," said Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.

Congressional Democrats are striving to determine how to restart their legislative campaign to end the war after months of being stymied by the White House and its GOP allies.

Despite repeated votes on withdrawal proposals and deep public unhappiness with the war, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have been able to persuade only a handful of Republicans to join their efforts to force a pullout.

At the same time, evidence of progress in Anbar province has helped steady Republican unease and relieve some of the pressure many had felt to break with the White House and join Democrats.

"There is a sense that things are going right that there wasn't a few months ago," said Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., one of several House Republicans who earlier this year agonized privately about Bush's strategy. "I think a lot of us are now beginning to have a level of comfort with the plan."

If the president accepts the Petraeus plan to pull some troops out and gives GOP lawmakers a withdrawal plan they can sell to their constituents, it might be harder still for Democrats to persuade Republicans to cross the aisle and back their anti-war legislation.

In the past week, a number of senior Democrats have talked about less-stringent proposals that would not set a withdrawal deadline.

"We have completely lost the momentum," said an aide to one leading anti-war Democrat.

"We have let them entirely frame the debate," said the aide, who asked not to be identified.

Republicans were further energized Monday by a full-page ad in The New York Times by the liberal grass-roots group MoveOn.org attacking Petraeus' credibility, which GOP leaders sought to link to Democrats. The ad accused him of "cooking the books" on statistics that show a decline in violence and mocked him as "General Betray Us." MoveOn.org has worked closely with Democratic leaders pushing for a withdrawal.

A pullout plan that still keeps more than 130,000 troops in Iraq next summer will present congressional Republicans with their own problems, however.

Joe Garecht, a Philadelphia-based GOP political consultant, said he is concerned that Republicans will rally around the president once again. "It's a losing proposition. ... I believe those who forcefully support him will suffer politically."

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., who has voiced reservations about the buildup in the past but refused to back any withdrawal proposals, warned the president Monday that he risks renewed defections if he doesn't present a long-term plan for bringing the troops home when he addresses the nation this week.

"That would put a lot of us under a lot of pressure in Congress, because ultimately that is not going to satisfy the American people," Coleman said. "I would hope for more."

Petraeus and Crocker testify today before comparable Senate committees, which include five senators who are running for president: Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Barack Obama of Illinois, Joseph Biden of Delaware and Chris Dodd of Connecticut, and Republican John McCain of Arizona.

Additional information from USA Today