The United States could start withdrawing forces from Iraq this year if the additional troops being sent to Baghdad reduce violence significantly, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday. "If these operations actually work you could begin to see a lightening of the U.S. footprint both in Baghdad and Iraq itself," Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee.Defending President George W. Bush's plan against intense opposition from the new Democratic-led Congress for the second day in a row, Gates cautioned that adding more U.S. forces would not end sectarian violence in Iraq. But if it lowers the violence "significantly" and the Iraqi government fulfills its promises, "then you could have a situation later this year where you could actually begin withdrawing," he said.
Still, lawmakers challenged the plan to send an additional 21,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines into the most violent areas of Iraq. The United States has about 130,000 troops in Iraq now. They argued the plan, announced by Bush on Wednesday, depended far too heavily on the Iraqi government keeping promises it had failed to keep before. "Look at the track record of the Iraqi government in meeting some of its past benchmarks and promises," said Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat and Armed Services Committee chairman.
He listed commitments not kept, such as a pledge from Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that the government would disband the sectarian militias plaguing Baghdad and that Iraq would take over security for all its provinces by the end of 2006. White House spokesman Tony Snow acknowledged congressional criticism of Bush's troop increase, saying, "a lot of people are skeptical." But he said the plan would go forward.
You don't suppose we're actually seeing bipartisanship in action here, do you? Even inadvertently? Maliki's gotta be hearing these comments and thinking that if he doesn't come through we're outta there - and he's left with Tater and the Association of Muslim Scholars.