Senator Warner calls for US pullout from Iraq
Iraq-USA, Politics, 8/27/2007

US Senator John Warner on "NBC's Meet the Press" according to excerpts from his office was asked yesterday that "You came back from Iraq and suggested to the president that he begin to withdraw some troops by Christmas of this year. What message were you trying to send to the president?"

Warner said that "The exact words, said I, 'Most respectfully, Mr. President, and I mean this, most respectfully suggest that you put some teeth behind your words.' You go back to the January 10th message when he instituted the surge, he said, 'We will, in partnership with Maliki, we'll do the military part and bring about a lessening of the severe security threats. That will enable you to have,' and I quote him, 'breathing space.' And now, Mr. Maliki, you do the political reconciliation. And with the convergence of those two actions, we hope to bring about a greater stability for Iraq."

Warner added "Our troops have performed magnificently under brilliant leadership and have done precisely as the president asked. They have made measurable gains in bringing about a degree of stability in Baghdad and the environs. But the government, under the leadership of Maliki and other Iraqi leaders, have totally failed to put the other part of that partnership in place, namely deliver greater security."

Senator Warner is the former Chairman, and now the second-ranking Republican of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He was asked troop withdrawal will also serve to get Maliki’s attention, to which he replied that "That’s correct. I put this out as a suggestion and put it in the public domain. It’s drawn a lot of controversy, I recognize that. But this will help the American people better understand the complexity of the many issues that are going to be brought up to the president first by the ambassador, a very able man, coming back from Iraq; General Petraeus, the overall on-scene commander; General Jones, who is preparing a special report on the status of the security forces; and, indeed, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is going to come forward with his views. All this converges in the first 15 days of September. And then under the law—I had a hand in writing that law—the president will advise the people of this country and the Congress on such changes in strategies as he, as the president, desires."

Previous Stories:
  US - Iran agree to meet over Iraq; differences clear   (7/23/2007)
  Bush urges Maliki to step up political efforts   (7/16/2007)
  Bush: Iraq security improvements sets stage for reform   (7/16/2007)

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