September 10, 2007 – Capitol Hill Blue

Petraeus: Limited troop withdrawal

September 10, 2007

Gen. David Petraeus told Congress on Monday he envisions the withdrawal of roughly 30,000 U.S. troops by next summer, beginning with a Marine contingent later this month.

In long-awaited testimony, the commanding general of the war said last winter’s buildup in U.S. troops had met its military objectives “in large measure.”

As a result, he told a congressional hearing and a nationwide television audience, “I believe that we will be able to reduce our forces to the pre-surge level … by next summer without jeopardizing the security gains we have fought so hard to achieve.”

The war against terror is over: We lost

September 10, 2007

Tuesday’s sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, will unfortunately turn into a glut of self-serving reasons to use the tragic events for political, philosophical or personal advantage.

Candidates for President will talk endlessly about how they could have better handled the events that cost more than 3,000 Americans their lives on that devastating day.

Rumsfeld: Afghanistan war a ‘success’

September 10, 2007

In an interview billed as his first since leaving the top Pentagon post, Donald Rumsfeld calls Afghanistan “a big success,” but says U.S. efforts in Iraq are hampered by the failure of Iraq’s government to establish a foundation for democracy.

“In Afghanistan, 28 million people are free. They have their own president, they have their own parliament. Improved a lot on the streets,” Rumsfeld says in the October issue of GQ magazine.

Is bin Laden ‘virtually impotent’

September 10, 2007

President George W. Bush’s homeland security adviser said on Sunday al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is “virtually impotent” and can do little more than send videotaped messages.

Top White House aide Fran Townsend said officials were studying bin Laden’s new video tape for clues to his health or whereabouts, and whether there were any hidden meanings or messages.

But she said there was no sign of an imminent attack.

“This is a man on the run in a cave who is virtually impotent other than his ability to get these messages out,” Townsend said on CNN’s “Late Edition.” “It is propaganda.

Dems agree on Irag & immigration

September 10, 2007

Democratic White House candidates embraced Hispanic concerns in the first ever Spanish-language presidential debate, unanimously promising to bring troops home from Iraq and to begin working on immigration in their first year in office.

On the eve of a war assessment by U.S. commanding Gen. David Petraeus, the presidential hopefuls said troops should begin coming home no matter what the report says. With the moderator of the debate noting that two-thirds of Hispanics want a withdrawal from Iraq, the candidates had an ideal audience to criticize the war.

Report: Troop withdrawal in five years

September 10, 2007

The United States should halve its military presence in Iraq within three years and completely pull out within five years, the latest US report on the war-scarred country said Sunday.

Only then will Iraq’s government, which has so far been a “disappointment,” take on its own security responsibilities to rebuild the nation, the report by the United States Institute of Peace said.

“The United States faces too many challenges around the world to continue its current level of effort in Iraq, or even the deployment that was in place before the surge,” the report said.

Show & tell time on Iraq war

September 10, 2007

Democrats and moderate Republicans in Congress have tough questions for a top military commander in Iraq who is warning against major changes to President Bush’s war strategy.

Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker were scheduled to testify Monday in the first of three hearings this week on the future course of the unpopular 4-year-old war. Officials familiar with their thinking told The Associated Press over the weekend that the advisers will acknowledge disappointing progress in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s bid to achieve national reconciliation but would urge Congress to maintain the U.S. troop buildup to preserve local security gains.