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WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday rejected a
senator's assertion the Iraq war had become a
quagmire, but warned Iraq's government not to delay
political developments such as drafting a
constitution.
During a tense Senate Armed Services Committee
hearing, Army Gen. John Abizaid, who as head of
Central Command is the top U.S. commander in the
Middle East, declined to endorse Vice President Dick
Cheney's assessment that Iraq's insurgency was in
its "last throes."
Abizaid said the insurgents' strength had not
diminished and that more foreign fighters were
coming into Iraq than six months ago. "There's a lot
of work to be done against the insurgency," Abizaid
said, adding, "I'm sure you'll forgive me from
criticizing the vice president."
Cheney said later in an interview with CNN he was
not backing down from his remark. "If you look at
what the dictionary says about throes, it can still
be a violent period, the throes of a revolution."
This war has been consistently and grossly
mismanaged," Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts
Democrat, told Rumsfeld. "And we are now in a
seemingly intractable quagmire."
"Our troops are dying. And there really is no end in
sight. And the American people, I believe, deserve
leadership worthy of the sacrifices that our
fighting forces have made, and they deserve the real
facts. And I regret to say that I don't believe that
you have provided either," Kennedy added.
"Well, that is quite a statement," Rumsfeld, flanked
by top U.S. commanders, responded. "First let me say
that there isn't a person at this table who agrees
with you that we're in a quagmire and that there's
no end in sight."
"The suggestion by you that people -- me or others
-- are painting a rosy picture is false," Rumsfeld.
"The fact is from the beginning of this we have
recognized that this is a tough business, that it is
difficult, that it is dangerous, and that it is not
predictable," Rumsfeld added.
Kennedy asked Rumsfeld, "Isn't it time for you to
resign?"
Rumsfeld noted he twice offered his resignation to
President George W. Bush last year during the Abu
Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, and that Bush
declined to accept it. "That's his call," Rumsfeld
added.
Gen. George Casey, who commands the 138,000 U.S.
troops in Iraq, and Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, agreed the war had not
become a quagmire.
'HIGH HORSE'
Rumsfeld was chastised by the Senate's senior
member, 87-year-old Democrat Robert Byrd of West
Virginia, who objected to what he called the
secretary's "sneer" and disdain toward lawmakers'
questions. "So get off your high horse when you come
up here," Byrd told Rumsfeld, who later testified
before a House of Representatives panel.
There have been 1,725 U.S. military deaths in a war
that began in March 2003 and 13,074 U.S. troops have
been wounded, the Pentagon said. The May death toll
of 80 U.S. troops was the highest since January and
June's death count is on pace to match that of May.
Insurgents have escalated a campaign of bombings
taking a growing toll on Iraqi civilians, with
hundreds killed since the Shi'ite-led government was
formed two months ago.
There has been growing discomfort with the Iraq war
among some U.S. lawmakers, and support for the war
by the American public has dropped in recent opinion
surveys. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South
Carolina said declining public support for the war
was becoming a chronic problem.
A new Iraqi constitution is due in August and
elections for a new government are set for December.
"To the extent there were, for whatever reason, a
delay in moving forward with drafting a constitution
or a referendum on the constitution or holding the
elections, it would retard the entire process,"
Rumsfeld said, but he did not identify possible
consequences for a delay.
A small bipartisan group of lawmakers last week
proposed a resolution calling on the Bush
administration to develop a plan by the end of this
year to pull out all American troops from Iraq and
to begin the withdrawal by Oct. 1, 2006.
Of a deadline, Rumsfeld testified: "It would throw a
lifeline to terrorists, who in recent months have
suffered significant losses in casualties, been
denied havens, and suffered weakened popular
support."
The committee's top Democrat, Sen. Carl Levin of
Michigan, said a deadline should not be ruled out.
"The Iraqis have approved a timetable for adopting a
constitution: August 15th, with the possibility of
one and only one six-month extension," Levin said.
"The United States needs to tell the Iraqis and the
world that if that deadline is not met, we will
review our position with all options open, including
but not limited to setting a timetable for
withdrawal," Levin said. (Additional reporting by
Charles Aldinger)
Reuters
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