[Vision2020] More reality for "principled" Bush

Wed Nov 29 10:53:52 PST 2006

      Defense secretary nominee subtly chides Iraq handlers
      WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former CIA Director Robert Gates, the nominee for U.S. defense secretary, criticized the handling of the war in Iraq and said he will improve Pentagon postwar planning if he is confirmed.

      Gates also endorsed the idea of engaging Iran and Syria for help in stabilizing increasingly violent Iraq, an opinion that President George W. Bush does not share.

      Gates made the comments in response to a questionnaire from the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is to hold a confirmation hearing next week.

      "War planning should be done with the understanding that the post-major combat phase of operations can be crucial," Gates said in a 65-page written response submitted to the committee Tuesday.

      "If confirmed, I intend to improve the department's capabilities in this area," he said in response to a question about what he would have done differently. "With the advantage of hindsight, I might have done some things differently."

      Gates also appeared to subtly criticize the invasion of Iraq.

      "I believe the use of pre-emptive force should be based on very strong evidence," he said when asked about incorrect intelligence saying that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. "It is a decision that must not be taken lightly," Gates added.

      He also said that "hard questions" must be asked about intelligence.

      Asked whether the United States should engage Iran and Syria for help in stabilizing Iraq, Gates endorsed the idea but said talks need not be on a one-on-one basis.

      A bipartisan commission led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Rep. Lee H. Hamilton is widely expected to call for regional talks as part of its recommendations for a way forward in Iraq.

      "Even in the worst days of the Cold War, the U.S. maintained a dialogue with the Soviet Union and China, and I believe those channels of communication helped us manage many potentially difficult situations," the nominee said of proposals for talks with Iran.

      Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
     

      Find this article at: 
      http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/29/gates.iraq.ap/index.html 


      Colin Powell says Iraq in a 'civil war'
      Story Highlights
      .Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says "civil war" describes Iraq now
      .Bush, top advisers have avoided the term
      .Powell was top diplomat when U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003 and made case for war
      .U.N. Secretary General said Monday Iraq was "almost" in civil war
      DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CNN) -- Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday that Iraq's violence meets the standard of civil war and that if he were heading the State Department now, he might recommend that the administration use that term.

      Many news organizations and analysts are calling the Sunni-Shiite sectarian warfare that exploded this year, killing thousands and causing widespread displacement, a civil war.

      Powell's comments -- made in the United Arab Emirates at the Leaders in Dubai Business Forum -- are significant because he backed the war and was the top U.S. diplomat when the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. (Watch why some call Iraq's violence a civil war)

      Bush has avoided using the term "civil war" to describe the situation in Iraq.

      Tuesday, he called the latest violence in Iraq "part of a pattern" of attacks by al Qaeda in Iraq to divide Shiites and Sunnis and vowed, again, he won't support the removal of U.S. troops "before the mission is complete."

      "There's a lot of sectarian violence taking place, fomented in my opinion because of the attacks by al Qaeda, causing people to seek reprisal," he said. (Full story)

      White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley also dismissed the notion that civil war has begun in Iraq.

      "The Iraqis don't talk of it as a civil war. The unity government doesn't talk of it as a civil war," Hadley said Monday. "You have not yet had a situation also where you have two clearly defined and opposing groups vying not only for power but for territory."

      But he added: "We're clearly in a new phase characterized by an increase in sectarian violence that requires us to adapt to that new phase," according to The Associated Press.

      U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday said that he believes Iraq is near civil war. "Unless something is done drastically and urgently to arrest the deteriorating situation, we could be there. In fact we are almost there," he said. (Full story)

      A spokesman for the powerful political bloc of Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Wednesday the group has suspended its participation in Iraq's government. The group had threatened to take such action if Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki met with President Bush in Jordan this week. Al-Maliki was in Jordan Wednesday with talks scheduled for Thursday.

      A classified memo prepared by President's Bush's national security adviser after a recent trip to Iraq questions whether al-Maliki can rise above Iraq's widening and bloody Sunni-Shiite divide. (Watch why some question whether al-Maliki can hold Iraq together)

      Powell proposed a two-part solution to the problems in Iraq. First, he said, coalition troops must remain, but their numbers must be reduced. Second, a political solution must emerge among Iraqis themselves and not be imposed on them.

      In 2003, Powell set out a lengthy argument at the United Nations that buttressed the eventual invasion, including supposed evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

      Asked Wednesday whether he regretted those statements, he said he does. He noted he was working with the information that was available to him at the time.

      Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
     

      Find this article at: 
      http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/29/powell.iraq/index.html 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20061129/412bce35/attachment.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20061129/412bce35/attachment.gif 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 239 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20061129/412bce35/attachment-0001.gif