WASHINGTON, 28 November 2005 — Leading US politicians said yesterday that Iraq’s security situation could improve if Washington cedes more security responsibilities to Iraqi troops while drawing down its own forces there.
“I think (a withdrawal) would really help the Iraqi people come together and to be able to forge a country,” said Democratic senator Russ Feingold on ABC television.
“As long as it’s seen as an American occupation, it helps the Al-Zarqawis and others to bring insurgents in, to bring terrorists in, and we need to reverse that problem... our presence is making things worse,” Feingold said.
“We’ve got to put a lot more pressure on the Iraqis to come together politically because there’s not going to be a military success there, according to our own commanders, unless the Iraqis do pull together their politics,” said Democratic senator Carl Levin told the Fox News Sunday program.
“But if they think that we’re there regardless... it takes pressure off them to make the compromises that are necessary to make those changes in the constitution,” said Levin, a longtime critic of the US occupation of Iraq.
Republican Senator Richard Lugar said the US should not set a deadline for withdrawing troops, but added that some cuts in US Iraq operations could encourage Iraqis to take on greater responsibilities.
“We need to put pressure on the Iraqis to perform... the question is how well they do so, whether they mop up on each other or whether they have a unified country,” Lugar said.
“What we need is a plan articulated and with measurements as we proceed on the assumption that probably we are going to have a reduction of troops during (next) year.” But Lugar said the US has to help strengthen the day-to-day operations of the Iraqi government before pulling out.
“We really have to think much more about how much oil is being pumped, how all that government is to be paid for when we leave, and likewise whether lights go on more than eight hours a day in Baghdad, whether schools are opening, whether, in fact, there’s some commerce in the country,” Lugar said.
“In other words, we have concentrated, quite correctly, on the security situation, but withdrawal means that somebody has to provide money to run a civil government.”
