US commander: Withdrawal from Iraq a step backwards

The US military commander in one of the more troubled areas of Iraq said attempting a leading Republican senator’s idea for troop withdrawals now would mean “a giant step backward” in his region.

Army Maj Gen Rick Lynch, commander of troops south of Baghdad, said militants pushed from his sector in recent operations would quickly return.

“If coalition soldiers were to leave, having fought hard for that terrain, having denied the enemy their sanctuaries, what’d happen is the enemy would come back,” said Lynch.

“He’d start building the bombs again, he’d start attacking the locals again and he’d start exporting that violence into Baghdad and we would take a giant step backward,” Lynch told Pentagon reporters in a video conference from Iraq.

He said recent gains resulted from the buildup of troops in Iraq and that he needs all the forces he has until Iraqis are able to step up and take over, perhaps some time next year.

Lynch was asked to respond to comments by Sen John Warner that US President George Bush should announce at least a small reduction in forces by Christmas.

Warner, former chairman of the Armed Services Committee and Navy secretary during the Vietnam War, said Bush would be sending a powerful message to Iraq’s government that the US commitment there is not open-ended.

Warner says the president should get to decide when and how many troops should leave. He also did not specify any places where he thought reductions were possible in Iraq, where some regions are worse than others.

Warner’s call for troop withdrawals is likely to ratchet up pressure on Bush, who has opposed setting a date for any withdrawal and contends that conditions on the ground should dictate deployments.

“I’m hopeful that this (redeployment) could lead to more emphasis on the Iraqi forces taking the major responsibility, as it relates to the internal insurgency in that country,” the Republican said.

But the top Republican on the House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee said he disagrees with Warner’s proposal and urged Bush to change his goals in Iraq.

“The president has to be willing to say , ’I’m going to take democracy off the table, we’re going to aim for peace and stability,’ ” said Rep Peter Hoekstra in East Lansing, Michigan.

He said trying to establish democracy in Iraq over a three-to-five year period “was to big a reach.”

Warner’s suggestion comes as a new intelligence assessment says Iraqis have failed to govern effectively or reach the political compromises believed necessary to tamp down sectarian violence.

Overall, the report finds that Iraq’s security will continue to “improve modestly” over the next six to 12 months, provided that coalition forces mount strong counterinsurgency operations and mentor Iraqi forces. But even then, violence levels will remain high as the country struggles to achieve national political reconciliation, and the Iraqi government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is likely to become increasingly vulnerable because of criticism from various Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions.

“The strains of the security situation and absence of key leaders have stalled internal political debates, slowed national decision-making, and increased Maliki’s vulnerability” to factions that could form a rivalling coalition, the document says.

Democrats say the grim report and Warner’s conclusion bolster their position that Bush should change course and start bringing troops home later this year. Party leaders this year tried to pass legislation ordering troops home in late 2007, but repeatedly fell short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate to pass.