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Success of the Surge?

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August 20, 2007 3:22 PM

ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf, Luis Martinez and Jon Garcia Report: The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee is calling for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to be replaced with a less sectarian leader that can bring about political reconciliation.

Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., who just returned home from a trip to Iraq, announced he has "crossed the Rubicon," and urged the Iraqi Parliament to hold a no-confidence vote on the Iraqi Prime Minister.

Levin said he saw first-hand that political reconciliation under Maliki's government is not possible because the Iraqi Prime Minister is too beholden to sectarian and religious interests.

The White House reacted to Levin's comments Monday, expressing confidence in the Maliki government.

"Iraqi leaders are meeting now to reach a political accommodation among the various parties," said National Security Council spokesperson Gordon Johndroe.  "We believe that Prime Minister Maliki and the Presidency Council will be able to get this important work done, work that is being done on the local level where we see bottom-up reconciliation taking hold."

Earlier Monday, Levin released a joint statement with Sen. John Warner, R-Va., who also went on the Iraq trip, questioning whether the Iraqi government is up to the task of utilizing the "breathing room" created by the President's troop surge plan.

"While we believe that the 'surge' is having measurable results, and has provided a degree of 'breathing space' for Iraqi politicians to make the political compromises which are essential for a political solution in Iraq, we are not optimistic about the prospects for those compromises," read the joint statement.
While both Senators have been critical of the troop surge plan in Iraq, they said they saw signs it may be working.

"We have seen indications that the surge of additional brigades to Baghdad and its immediate vicinity and the revitalized counter-insurgency strategy being employed have produced tangible results in making several areas of the capital more secure," Levin and Warner said.

Levin said the progress may lead to a troop reduction later this year to pre-surge levels and even further reductions by the middle of next year.

Levin and Warner note improvement by Iraqi security forces, but not enough improvement for the Iraqi military to act independently. The senators say they heard reports in Iraq of bureaucratic issues within the U.S. government which prohibited Iraqi forces from receiving badly needed equipment.

August 20, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (32)

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Intresting. Wish we would do this here!

Posted by: j | Aug 20, 2007 7:50:10 PM

So just like the ladies running the democrat party, we have Levin taking his 3% approval rating on the road and poisoning another government with is blatant, infantile hatred for the man he serves, George W Bush, his Commander in Chief. No need for diplomats, Secretary of State or the Department of Defense, we have Levin and his big mouth. Once again the democrats have handed the enemy a rare victory! While the rag tag insurgents with there handfuls of IED's are crushed by American Armed Forces and a kill rate beyond 18 to 1 whenever they dare challenge us, it is the democrats who have invested their political futures in DEFEAT AND FAILURE in Iraq. By conjuring up his own measures of success and arbitrarily judging that measure a failure, Levin seeks to prevent American Victory and Republican success at all cost by personally attempting to destabilize and rot the fledgling democracy from the inside. Meanwhile the poor people of his state, Michigan, live with an economy in ruins......weakest in the nation and 800 more jobs lost last week but he is too focused on screwing up the United States and Iraq to notice. Good work democrat.

Posted by: cheeseytopping69 | Aug 20, 2007 8:01:17 PM

So when do we get to have a no confidence vote on Bush?

Posted by: Kidd Charlemagne | Aug 20, 2007 8:46:14 PM

Ask the freak show on the hill with their 3% approval rating....the lowest in the history of polling in the United States. LOL

Posted by: cheeseytopping69 | Aug 20, 2007 8:48:09 PM

When was Levin selected to replace Biden as Not Ever Going To Be Secretary Of State?

Posted by: Question Authority? QUESTION HILLARY. | Aug 20, 2007 8:49:02 PM

We have garbage running our Government and yet we think we have the right to demand the Iraqi's throw out their Prime Minister, What gall.

Posted by: Patriot 2007 | Aug 20, 2007 8:59:49 PM

By this hour Tuesday, Hillary will be jetting up to West Point to get her photo op with the again popular military leadership, claiming she's really always been for the surge, and the invasion, and sacking Saddam, and regime change, and confronting Iran, and freeing slaves, and low interest rates, and free trade...

Oh well.

DNC WEATHER VANES HAPPEN.

Posted by: Question Authority? QUESTION HILLARY. | Aug 20, 2007 9:04:12 PM

Here'a a solution. Reinstate the draft. NO EXEMPTIONS for the poor, middle-class,rich elitists, well connected, politically affiliated or whatever. Draft men and women and subject them all to life threatening situations. Yes, I'm talking about "no special privilege" based on name, connection, or money. When the rich and influential have to sacrifice their "special children" we will see the tone of rhetoric change dramatically in this country.

Posted by: bluezz | Aug 21, 2007 12:06:59 AM

Hey Johnny,

Have you refused to talk to the other half that believe what we're doing in Iraq is a joke? You need to talk to more troops cuz you're not gettin the entire story.

Posted by: TamSam | Aug 21, 2007 5:11:45 AM

Maliki can stay. Bush can go!

Posted by: easystreet47 | Aug 21, 2007 9:26:08 AM

Despite the recent record low approval ratings, President Bush and his administration are still arrogant and blinded by the Iraq War. The people of this country are fed up with Bush’s senseless war and the lack of domestic policies. There are much more important issues in this world that the US should be taking part in, such as global poverty. According to the Borgen Project, whose goal is to fight global poverty, US is one of the nations pledged in the Millennium Development Project. MDP is aimed at eliminating world poverty in half by the year 2015. However, this country has done anything but reducing poverty. The war on “terror” has created more poverty, more hunger and more violence within Iraq and the United States. It is time for this country’s president to rethink the direction where this great nation is going. Perhaps the second lowest approval rating since Watergate will be a wake up call to President Bush.

Posted by: Mstessyrue | Aug 21, 2007 11:41:29 AM

Al Maliki will go. Bush and his failed policy need another scapegoat to continue the drama.

Posted by: A Viet Nam Vet | Aug 21, 2007 12:08:12 PM

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