Projo Politics Blog

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said today that his talks with U.S. military and diplomatic leaders in Iraq this week have left him optimistic that, while tens of thousands of American troops must remain in Iraq for an indefinite period of time, the U.S. combat force can safely be removed from Iraqi municipalities by summer and from the rest of the war-torn nation by three years from now.

Those withdrawal timelines from a new U.S.-Iraqi agreement are both "shorter and longer'' than the timeline in President-elect Obama's campaign pledge to remove the combat force from Iraq within 16 months after he is inaugurated, Whitehouse said on the telephone from Dubai this afternoon. Barring unforseen problems, Whitehouse said, the military situation in Iraq is such that the bulk of the American force of more than 140,000 can be removed in accordance with the terms of the "Status of Forces Agreement'' recently adopted by the two nations.

Many challenges remain, Whitehouse said, but Iraq's armed forces have improved to the point where they can rapidly assume the combat duties of the departing Americans. Nevertheless, a substantial U.S. force must remain for an uncertain period of time to provide the Iraqis with such services as intelligence, air support, transportation and other logistical help, said the Rhode Island senator.

Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, spoke near the close of a week-long journey that took him and fellow senators to Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Dubai. The Senate delegation was led by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. In Iraq, they met with such officials as Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of the U.S. forces there, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker

Whitehouse said Crocker is "quite optimistic'' that provincial elections scheduled for early next year will be a step toward fuller representation of all of Iraq's competing ethnic and religious groups, especially the Suni Muslim minority that boycotted earlier elections and gave much support to the violant insurgency that has now been largely quelled. "This means the Sunis will have a better forum to work out their differences'' with the Shiite majority, Whitehouse said.

He said U.S. officials reported that there is great enthusiasm about the coming elections, with many candidates running from all quarters in campaigns focused heavily on pledges to fight corruption and deliver services to the people -- issues, in other words, that would be familiar to American voters.

Whitehouse called his travels to the other three countries "interesting and educational.'' He said he heard a common theme in talks with the three heads of state, President Hosni Mubarek of Egypt, King Abdullah II of Jordan and Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai. All three leaders sought to assure the senators of their strong feelings of friendship with the U.S., their dissatisfaction with President Bush's policies in their region and their high hopes for better things from President-elect Obama.

If anything, Whitehouse said, hopes and expectations for President Obama's administration are even higher in the Muslim world than in the U.S. That could carry the danger that expectations are too high for Obama to meet, Whitehouse said. But he termed that "a high-quality problem'' to be dealing with in the Middle East.

 Tags  Abdullah Crocker Dorgan Iraq Mubarek Odierno Rhode Island Whitehouse

Comments

Jay said:

Like I care about what that idiot Whitehouse thinks.... His assessment of the middle east comes from a brain that wouldn't serve a mouse well..... Idiot! Idiot voters in RI that voted for him deserve him! Once agin, I'm glad I got out when I did!

Link | December 18, 2008 11:58 AM
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