home > by publication type > daily analysis > Iraq Timetable Debate Resurfaces
Email
| Prepared by: |
|---|
Debate over a U.S. drawdown in Iraq is heating up again in Congress. (Photo: AP)
Congress is set to continue the partisan debate over the course of the Iraq war this week with Democrats in the Senate proposing a "phased redeployment" that sets a timetable for a U.S. troop drawdown (CNN). A White House spokesman says a pullout would be disastrous (Bloomberg). For their part, Iraqi leaders have stressed the importance of the U.S. military presence in maintaining security while acknowledging the need to assume more responsibility. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told a meeting at CFR on Friday that a chief priority of the new government in Baghdad is to assume control of security matters.
The Senate debate, starting Tuesday, picks up from a sometimes rancorous discussion in the House of Representatives that ended in a vote for a nonbinding resolution rejecting a timetable for withdrawal (NYT). Last week's session offered the first chance for the House to formally debate military operations in Iraq since before the war. But Democrats cried foul, saying the resolution provided cover for administration mistakes in Iraq (LAT). In the Senate last week, Republicans sought to preempt Sen. John Kerry's (D-MA) plan to propose a withdrawal from Iraq, offering a resolution testing that idea. The measure was overwhelmingly defeated, but Kerry said he would formally introduce his plan this week. Separately, two Democratic senators proposed a resolution urging President Bush to oppose amnesty for Iraqis who have killed American soldiers (Miami Herald). Republicans charged it was an attempt to embarrass the administration, which has been touting the formation of an Iraqi national unity government.
The debates did reveal concerns about the Iraq campaign from both parties and put elected officials on the record in a big election year. Democrats, eyeing electoral gains because of public dissatisfaction over the war, face internal divisions as well, says Ivo Daalder, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He tells CFR.org's Bernard Gwertzman that Democrats are split between those who think the United States can still play a positive role and those who advocate an early withdrawal. But Republicans remain vulnerable because of the consistently low opinion Americans have the administration's moves in Iraq.
In Iraq, meanwhile, U.S. forces are seeking to build momentum after the killing of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, mounting more than 450 raids on insurgents since then (KnightRidder). But despite a security crackdown launched by the new Iraqi government, suicide attacks continued (VOA). This new online debate by Foreign Affairs examines policy options for helping Iraq avert full-fledged civil war.
Few experts see Zarqawi's death as a turning point militarily. Former CFR Fellow Mary Anne Weaver tells Bernard Gwertzman that Zarqawi was only responsible for "about 10 percent of Iraq's internal violence." His death, she says, while significant, "is not decisive." While some, including the Boston Globe's Jeff Jacoby, see such statements as infuriatingly defeatist, on balance they reflect expert opinion. Zarqawi's death last week led his terrorist group, al-Qaeda in Iraq, to announce a successor, Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, a pseudonym for a previously unknown figure the U.S. military has identified as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, an Egyptian who trained with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan (NYT).
Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.
Global Economy in Crisis
Expert Conversations on World Events
In The Closing of the American Border, Edward Alden goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the Bush administration’s struggle to balance security and openness in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
Complete list of CFR Books.
This report lays out a thoughtful agenda for U.S. policy toward the Democratic Republic of Congo, arguing that what happens there should matter to the United States--for humanitarian reasons as well as economic and strategic ones.
In this report, CFR Senior Fellow Michael A. Levi analyzes the potential use of deterrence in preventing terrorist groups from acquiring nuclear weapons and recommends a new approach to U.S. declaratory policy, as well as ways to improve U.S. capabilities to determine the sources of terrorist attacks.
Complete list of Council Special Reports.
This report argues that the United States must lead with domestic action on climate change and proposes a U.S. negotiating strategy for a global UN climate agreement that includes commitments from all major economies, while also promoting a less formal Partnership for Climate Cooperation that would focus the world's largest emitters on implementing aggressive emissions reductions.
This Task Force report examines changes in Latin America and in U.S. influence there, while taking account of the region's enduring importance to the United States. The Task Force offers an agenda for U.S. policy toward Latin America and identifies four critical areas that should provide the basis of a new U.S. approach.
About Independent Task Forces at CFR.
“ The Logic of Zero:” Ivo Daalder and Jan Lodal say Washington must lead the way to a world without nuclear weapons. The first step will be dramatically limiting the U.S. nuclear arsenal's declared size and purpose.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1-212-434-9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
To request permission to reuse Council materials, please email publications@cfr.org or fax +1.212.434.9859.
Please include the complete information of the requested work—author, title, sections/pages to be copied or reprinted, and number of copies to be made—along with a brief description of where and how you would like to reuse the work.
You may also request permission for Council material through Copyright Clearance Center. For more information, please click on the link below.
Copyright 2008 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.
