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08-23-2007, 04:32 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/23/warner.iraq/index.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The influential former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee has called on President Bush to start bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq by Christmas.
Republican Sen. John Warner is urging President Bush to begin a troop withdrawal from Iraq in September.
Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican, said Thursday that a pullout was needed to spur Iraqi leaders to action.
He has recommended that Bush announce the beginning of a U.S. withdrawal in mid-September, after a report is released from the top U.S. officials in Iraq, and that those troops should be back in the U.S. by Christmas.
"In my humble judgment, that would get everyone's attention that is not being paid at this time," said Warner.
Warner opposed Bush's January decision to send nearly 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq. But he has so far also opposed Democratic efforts to force Bush to start bringing U.S. troops home.
The "surge" campaign was aimed at buying time for Iraq's government to reach a political solution to the sectarian and insurgent warfare that has wracked the country since the U.S. invasion in 2003.
The U.S. intelligence community's latest report on Iraq, released Thursday, found "measurable but uneven improvements" in security in recent months. However, it concluded that Iraq's political leaders "remain unable to govern effectively."
"I really, firmly believe the Iraqi government, under the leadership of Prime Minister [Nuri] al-Maliki, let our troops down," Warner said.
Warner is one of the most respected voices in the Senate on military and national security issues. Besides being a former Armed Services chairman, Warner was a Secretary of the Navy in the 1970s. He served in the Navy in World War II and in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. He has served in the Senate for five consecutive terms.
He and the current Armed Services chairman, Michigan Democrat Carl Levin, recently returned from a visit to Baghdad with harsh words for the al-Maliki government.
Levin said Monday that Iraq's parliament should throw al-Maliki out of office and replace his government.
Warner said he would not join that call. "But in no way do I criticize it," he added.
Warner met at the White House earlier Thursday with Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the White House official responsible for coordinating Iraq issues.
Warner said the president and other leading Bush administration officials have repeatedly said the American commitment to Iraq was not open-ended.
"The time has come to put some meaningful teeth into those comments -- to back them up with some clear, decisive action," the senator said.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The influential former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee has called on President Bush to start bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq by Christmas.
Republican Sen. John Warner is urging President Bush to begin a troop withdrawal from Iraq in September.
Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican, said Thursday that a pullout was needed to spur Iraqi leaders to action.
He has recommended that Bush announce the beginning of a U.S. withdrawal in mid-September, after a report is released from the top U.S. officials in Iraq, and that those troops should be back in the U.S. by Christmas.
"In my humble judgment, that would get everyone's attention that is not being paid at this time," said Warner.
Warner opposed Bush's January decision to send nearly 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq. But he has so far also opposed Democratic efforts to force Bush to start bringing U.S. troops home.
The "surge" campaign was aimed at buying time for Iraq's government to reach a political solution to the sectarian and insurgent warfare that has wracked the country since the U.S. invasion in 2003.
The U.S. intelligence community's latest report on Iraq, released Thursday, found "measurable but uneven improvements" in security in recent months. However, it concluded that Iraq's political leaders "remain unable to govern effectively."
"I really, firmly believe the Iraqi government, under the leadership of Prime Minister [Nuri] al-Maliki, let our troops down," Warner said.
Warner is one of the most respected voices in the Senate on military and national security issues. Besides being a former Armed Services chairman, Warner was a Secretary of the Navy in the 1970s. He served in the Navy in World War II and in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. He has served in the Senate for five consecutive terms.
He and the current Armed Services chairman, Michigan Democrat Carl Levin, recently returned from a visit to Baghdad with harsh words for the al-Maliki government.
Levin said Monday that Iraq's parliament should throw al-Maliki out of office and replace his government.
Warner said he would not join that call. "But in no way do I criticize it," he added.
Warner met at the White House earlier Thursday with Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the White House official responsible for coordinating Iraq issues.
Warner said the president and other leading Bush administration officials have repeatedly said the American commitment to Iraq was not open-ended.
"The time has come to put some meaningful teeth into those comments -- to back them up with some clear, decisive action," the senator said.