Senators split on Bush's decision
Senators split on Bush decision to send more troops to Iraq
Washington: Senators who back US President George W. Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq tried to bolster support for the unpopular strategy while Democrats plotted ways to derail the increase and force changes in war policies.
A day after Bush's proposal was pelted with bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill, Republican Senator John McCain, a leading presidential contender for 2008, said he supports the plan. He tried to shift the burden to war critics.
McCain said those advocating the start of a troop withdrawal, which includes many Democrats, "have a responsibility to tell us what they believe are the consequences of withdrawal in Iraq. If we walk away from Iraq, we'll be back, possibly in the context of a wider war in the world's most volatile region."
Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Friday, Defence Secretary Robert Gates and General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the effectiveness of the increase in troops depends heavily on the Iraqis and that Bush has made it clear to them additional US support is not open-ended.
"I think we'll see fairly quickly whether they are prepared to step up to the plate and perform as they have promised," Gates said.
If the operation is successful, "we in fact may be able to begin drawing down some of our troops later this year," Gates added. "But that will depend entirely on the situation on the ground."
Gates and Pace also assured lawmakers there are no immediate plans to attack targets in Iran. In his speech last week, Bush vowed to disrupt Iran's aid to insurgents in Iraq and "destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq."
Bush's comments refer "strictly to operations inside the territory of Iraq, not crossing the border," Gates said, later adding "any kind of military action inside Iran itself, that would be a very last resort."
In a second day of hearings, there was still plenty of congressional scepticism about Bush's strategy, which would add 21,500 US troops to the 132,000 already in Iraq.
