THE OLD STRATEGY

Here's some interesting Senate Armed Services Committee testimony.

Federal News Service
January 25, 2007 Thursday

HEARING OF THE SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE;
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT BUSH'S ANNOUNCED STRATEGY FOR IRAQ;
WITNESSES: WILLIAM PERRY, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, MEMBER OF THE IRAQ STUDY GROUP, AND SENIOR FELLOW AT THE HOOVER INSTITUTION; DENNIS ROSS, COUNSELOR AND DISTINGUISHED FELLOW AT THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY AND FORMER DIRECTOR FOR POLICY PLANNING IN THE STATE DEPARTMENT UNDER PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH AND SPECIAL MIDDLE EAST COORDINATOR UNDER PRESIDENT CLINTON; GENERAL JOHN KEANE (RET.), FORMER ARMY VICE CHIEF OF STAFF;

(Excerpts)

MR. PERRY: When the ISG was in Baghdad, we discussed the Baghdad security problem with General Casey and General Chiarelli, as well as General Dempsey, and asked if they could increase the likelihood of success if they had another three to five American brigades. Both generals said no.

MR. ROSS: The general observation, I'm afraid, is that if we look at Iraq, I suspect that we could have a civil war that goes on for another 10 or 15 years, that eventually at the end of that time -- after enormous cost with every neighbor in the region intervening because they're going to try to protect their equities or the groups that they identify with -- at the end of that time, after exhaustion, maybe we will end up with an Iraq that has a central government with limited powers, with provinces with extensive autonomy, with some formula for sharing the wealth there.

GEN. KEANE: The military strategy has also failed, and it failed in the sense that it did not stem the violence. We made a decision in the summer of '04. At the time we thought it was an informed decision and at the time I was supporting that decision, and that was to transition as a centerpiece of our military strategy to the Iraqi security forces and let them defeat the insurgency.

We never had it as a mission ever for the United States military to defeat the insurgency. I think many people in Washington -- I think maybe even the president of the United States -- believed that we were defeating the insurgency, and thus you hear -- you hear talk of -- of victory and winning and et cetera, et cetera. But the military never had it as a mission to defeat the insurgency. We made it -- the military made a conscious decision to give that mission to the Iraqi security forces and train them up to a level so that they could in fact defeat that insurgency. And we have continued with that mission up until today. What is wrong with that is that each succeeding year, the enemy exploited the fact that we were never protecting the people. The only way you can reasonably defeat an insurgency is by protecting the people, and we made a conscious decision not to do that, and they exploited that conscious decision.

This mission -- it'll take some time to secure Baghdad, most of '07. It'll take some time to secure the population in al Anbar, which we're not doing. That'll take well into '08, and some of the other provinces where conflict is being contested.

SEN. JACK REED (D-RI): Well, first, let me thank you gentlemen not only for your testimony this morning but for your extraordinary service to the nation in so many different ways, and thank you very much.

General Keane, you said in your remarks that we made a conscious decision not to protect the population of Iraq. Who made that conscious decision?

GEN. KEANE: That was a strategy that was put together in the summer of '04 by General Casey, acceded to by General Abizaid and also Secretary Rumsfeld. It became the campaign plan for Iraq, and I don't know what the approval authority -- you know, how it made its way. But logically, I'm sure that General Casey made the proposal to General Abizaid, and he agreed to it as did Secretary Rumsfeld, and it became, in a sense, our military strategy.

SEN. REED: And you suggest that the president might not have been aware of that strategy?

GEN. KEANE: I don't know. It's always been a mystery to me. Do people really understand what we are doing in Iraq, and just as equally important, what we are not doing? And that's why I was suggesting that there may be even leaders in our government that (don't ?) understand this important subtlety that's taking place, that we never took on the mission to defeat the insurgency with our coalition allies. We had given that mission to the Iraqis so that they could do it at some point when they had the capacity to do it.

GEN. KEANE: If we don't permit the proper level of forces to be applied, then we will not be able to secure the population of Baghdad and we'll continue on the track that we are on towards the government being fractured and a failed state. But the violence will increase. It's predicted to increase in '07. It will increase.


Crooks & Liars has the video of this testy exchange between Levin and McCain:

SEN. MCCAIN: Well, if you want to look back, that's fine, Mr. Chairman. But the fact is, I'm trying to look forward. I'm trying to stop from sending the wrong message to the men and women who are going to be at risk, some of whom are going to die, that we disapprove of their mission. But at the same time exercise the oversight responsibilities and the expectations that we as a Congress have and that the American people have so that they can have some comfort in what is going to happen, that we are exercising our legitimate responsibilities.Now, if your focus is on digging up what the old benchmarks are, fine. But I'd like to work with you on trying to set some parameters and benchmarks that could be passed by this Congress so that we could give the American people some confidence.And I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for --

SEN. LEVIN: We are not just focusing on old benchmarks. The president of the United States a few days ago said that the Iraqis are going to be held to the benchmarks they've agreed to. We want to know, as a starting point, what have the Iraqis agreed to?And you agreed that you would join with me --

SEN. MCCAIN: Yes, sir.

SEN. LEVIN: -- in terms of the message. We're going to argue over what the right message is, but I would think that our troops and their families want us to use our best efforts to try to have a successful end to this matter. And according to the public opinion polls, a significant amount of the troops that are there want us to change the direction in Iraq. So it's not us sending the wrong message; the troops themselves and their families have indicated very strongly in large numbers that the message that they want to get to the Iraqis is get on with their own government, get on with their own nation. So we're going to call --

SEN. MCCAIN: Mr. Chairman, I think I'm familiar with the sentiment of many of the troops. And the fact is, they want to win.

SEN. LEVIN: We all want --

SEN. MCCAIN: And that's what they want, and that's why we're changing the strategy, Mr. Chairman. And I'm sorry you don't support the strategy.

SEN. LEVIN: Well, it's a strategy which has failed. And finally, the president acknowledges that he did not have a winning strategy. So I'm glad we have not -- many of us -- supported what has proven to be a failed strategy. I'm delighted the president has acknowledged that he wants to change that strategy, finally, after two months ago saying we're absolutely winning in Iraq.