Delegation reacts to Gen. Petraeus

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Apr 10, 2008 by Tim Carpenter

By Tim Carpenter

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

U.S. Rep. Nancy Boyda responded Wednesday to the latest military update on Iraq with concern that lengthy deployments had weakened the nation's capacity to counter future terrorism threats.

Boyda, a Kansas Democrat who represents Topeka in Congress, said U.S. forces should be redeployed from Iraq to a fault line on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border from where military intelligence experts believe the next domestic terrorism threat could emerge.

"I'm not calling for an immediate withdrawal," she said in an interview from Washington. "I'm calling for a responsible, careful redeployment."

During the past two days, Gen. David Petraeus, commander of American forces in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the American ambassador to Iraq, delivered assessments of the situation there to House and Senate committees. Both spoke of fragile, uneven improvements resulting from the 2007 troop surge, but they made no promises for significant reduction in the American military presence in Iraq beyond a planned scale-down from the surge.

Petraeus reported the surge cut insurgent attacks and Iraq's forces were more capable, but the potential of Sunni or Shiite violence remained high. He recommended 20,000 extra combat troops be withdrawn by July, followed by a 45-day evaluation of conditions in Iraq prior to discussion of further pullouts.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said he viewed it as a "very good report" from the front line in Iraq.

"It's still a difficult situation," the senator said. "Overall, certainly from a year ago, from where we were a year ago, this is a real turnaround."

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said he had confidence in Petraeus' plan for cautious trimming of the number of American troops in Iraq.

"His recommendation for a pause in troop reductions makes common sense if we are to preserve the progress we have made to date," Roberts said.

He said it was important the United States shorten deployments to 12 months from the current 15 months.

"This is overdue for our men and women in uniform and their families," he said.

The fighting in Iraq has cost the United States billions of dollars and the lives of more than 4,000 soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen.

Boyda said other high-ranking officers have expressed concern in congressional briefings that six years of war in Afghanistan and five in Iraq stretched the military's readiness, in terms of manpower and equipment, close to a "red line." The U.S. armed forces has the capacity to respond to a new crisis, she said, but not sustain that deployment.

"We are in a volatile, dangerous situation," Boyda said. "The American people are waking up to the fact that having all our eggs in Iraq is not keeping us safer."

She said the U.S. troop surge resulted in tactical success on the ground, but not definitive advances in sectarian reconciliation among Iraqis.

Brownback agreed political unrest still dominated the war-torn country's landscape.

"The Iraqis are making some political progress," he said. "They need to make more. They need to take on issues more themselves."

Brownback also said U.S. public opinion polls indicate Americans are conflicted on Iraq.

"People don't want to be there," he said, "but they also don't want to lose."