The Daily Background
| The list: Who’s against an Iraq escalation?
by Arlen Parsa
Who’s against escalating the conflict in Iraq? Here’s the list… Most recent updates can be found at the bottom.
Colin Powell (former Secretary of State, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff)- has said there aren’t any more troops left, troop surges wouldn’t be worth it
General John Abizaid (CENTCOM commander, in charge of all middle eastern operations)- has said he doesn’t want more troops in Iraq because he wants to put pressure on Iraqis to start doing their jobs
General Peter Schoomaker (US Army Chief of Staff)- skeptical that troop surge will have positive impact, (”We should not surge without a purpose, and that purpose should be measurable and get us something”) says Army doesn’t have enough troops
The entire Joint Chiefs of Staff, which consists of:
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- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace
- Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Edmund Giambastiani
- Marine Corps Commandant James Conway
- Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Michael Mullen
- Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force General T. Michael Moseley
- Chief of Staff of the United States Army General Peter Schoomaker (previously noted above)
Representative Ike Skelton (incoming House Armed Services Committee Chairman, D-MO)- “I’m convinced the Army and the Marines are near the breaking point,” doesn’t think troop surge is ‘worth the trouble’
Senator Carl Levin (incoming Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman, D-MI)- wants to start troop withdrawal in 4-6 months, almost certainly is opposed to troop surges
Although incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) initially seemed supportive of a hypothetical troop surge, he later wrote a blog entry for theHuffington Post, clarifying h is earlier statements by saying “I don’t believe that more troops is the answer for Iraq.”
Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has issued a statement saying that troop escalation in Iraq is the “wrong answer” to the conflict.
Incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is also against troop escalations.
Incoming Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) is also against an escalation in Iraq, saying the military is not equipped or ready for it.
Incoming House Armed Services Committee Chairman Representative Ike Skelton (D-MO) has revised his earlier views (noted above) to say that he is now ‘extremely concerned’ about the Administration’s escalation plans for Iraq.
Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) has also come out against troop surges. So has Senator Hilary Clinton (D-NY) Clinton
Besides Clinton, another potential 08er, Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd (also a Democrat) wrote an op-ed in the Des Moines Register (one of the leading Iowa papers) on December 24, calling the idea of a troop surge at best merely “a delay that will be paid with American blood.”
US Army Brigadier General James Marks (ret.) took the unusual step of going on live television to vocally oppose troop surges or an escalation of that sort, saying “Frankly, I don’t think it’s going to work with the numbers being suggested. It sounds like it’s a considerable amount but, let’s be frank, 15 to 30 thousand — with the size of the mission sets that are required — I don’t think that’s going to make a difference.” (
Note that although much fuss has been made over the supposed reversal of opinion by General Casey (commander of ground troops in Iraq), he has still not said that he wants more troops, merely that he is open to discussing a solution that might include some sort of troop increase.
On February 1st 2007, General Casey testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, saying “I did not want to bring one more American soldier into Iraq than was necessary to accomplish the mission,” referring to the President’s goal of ending the rampant sectarian violence in Baghdad.
Incoming Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Chairman Joe Biden (D-DE) has said: “I totally oppose the surging of additional American troops, I think is the absolute wrong strategy.
2008 Presidential candidate John Edwards said in “>a YouTube videoblog in late December 2006 that “we need to reject this McCain doctrine of sending more troops to Iraq.”
In late December of 2006, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) stated on his website that he opposes troop surges and any escalation that this might create.
The Associated Press sent out an article on December 28th 2006 that indicated many troops opposed escalating the conflict with the infusion of more US soldiers. One Sergent who talked to the AP told them that a troop surge “not going to stop the hatred betweenShia and Sunni… This is a civil war, and we’re just making things worse. We’re losing. I’m not afraid to say it.”
The New York Sun reported on December 27 2006 that “The view of the new defense secretary [Robert Gates] appears to be at odds with the leanings of Mr. Bush, who is expected to announce a new troop surge when he unveils his new war strategy next month.”
According to a January 1st Washington Post article, several Republican Senators are cautiously pussyfooting around the issue of troop increases and an escalation in combat. Key quotes… SamBrownback : “A short-term buildup in troops, if it simply is to impose military order without the possibility of political equilibrium, that doesn’t seem to me to be too farsighted.” Saxby Cambliss: “I don’t want to send more troops on a general wartime basis without them having a specific mission.” Also quotes the Post, Republican “Sen. Richard G.Lugar (Ind.), said he does not know “whether I do or do not” support more troops.” Ha!
On CNN the day before, Republican Senator Arlen Specter was on Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer. The following exchange took place:
WOLF BLITZER: Can you justify deploying more U.S. troops into what you believe is a civil war?
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA): On this day, for the record, Wolf, I would say no.
Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-MS) told Chris Matthews there was a chance that he “may” oppose escalating the conflict in Iraq, on January 5th.
Oliver North, former Marines Corps Lieutenant Colonel-turned conservative Fox News commentator said he opposes escalating the conflict in Iraq in his syndicated column, titled “
Conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks has recently written that he believes any surge that may come is about three years too late.
Lt General Raymond Odierno, the number two American commander in Iraq, does not believe that an escalation in conflict could stop the Iraqi civil war, saying instead that he believes economic,political and Iraqi troop restructuring and retraining were the best bet to stabilize the country.
Retired General Wes Clark (former Supreme Commander of NATO forces), also rejects the idea of escalating the conflict in Iraq. In the words of Clark, the President’s “surge plan” (a product of “misunderstanding and desperation”) will backfire.
Former chief Presidential counter-terrorism adviser Richard Clarke told Wolf Blitzer on The Situation Room that he is “just am not convinced that having 160,00 combat troops there [will do] any good there whatsoever. It is, of course, providing targets.”
Former Clinton-Administration Secretary of State Madeleine Albright signalled her new opposition to the President’s escalation plan in testimony before the House of Representatives. Albright has in the past said Iraq needed more troops.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was against escalation from the start, according to the Washington Post. He also wants all US troops to withdraw from Baghdad.
President Bush’s nominee to replace CENTCOM commander General Abizaid, Admiral William Fallon, has been reluctant to say that he supports the President’s escalation plan. Said Fallon in Senate confirmation hearings, “I’ve always been someone who felt more comfortable in smaller numbers of very effective capabilities than a large number of — whatevers — decorating the landscape. ”
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