Key House Democrat lambastes Iraq policy

The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee delivered an uncharacteristically forceful statement on the Bush administration's execution of the Iraq war Wednesday, citing a litany of failures that have led to continued violence in the country.

Typically mild-mannered, Armed Services ranking member Ike Skelton, D-Mo., showed his stripes as the next chairman of the powerful panel and demonstrated his frustration with the situation on the ground in Iraq during the committee's first public hearing since the Nov. 7 elections.

"We are now, I think, strategically lost," Skelton said before Army Gen. John Abizaid, the regional commander of all U.S. forces in Iraq, and David Satterfield, State Department coordinator for Iraq.

Skelton drew parallels between the current operations and "The Perils of Amateur Strategy," a 1926 book about the failed allied campaign at the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli during World War I. The Iraq war, Skelton said, could be titled "The Perils of Amateur Strategy II."

Among the many strategic errors cited by Skelton were the administration's lack of a plan for post-combat occupancy and its failure to deploy an adequate number of troops to secure the country. The administration also has no strategy to deal with militias, nor has it accounted for weapons given to Iraqi forces, Skelton said.

The many blunders have resulted in 12 nations withdrawing their troops from the multi-national coalition and a spike in sectarian violence, he added.

Skelton's blunt attack on administration policy Wednesday provided a preview of the kind of chairman the Missouri Democrat might be in the next Congress. As he leads a committee dominated by several outspoken senior Democrats who have long been critical of the war, Skelton will likely speak out much more often than he has in the past, no longer reserving his harshest words for private meetings and conversations.

Over the last several weeks, Skelton has said repeatedly that oversight of the administration -- including its handling of the Iraq war -- will be central to his chairmanship.

But Skelton also emphasized that he wants to find a "bipartisan way forward" that allows American troops to leave the war-torn country as quickly as possible. And he stressed the importance of upcoming reports by the independent Iraq Study Group and a military-led review of Iraq in helping to craft a new strategy.

Skelton's comments stood in contrast to those of House Armed Services Chairman Hunter, who has been one of the White House's staunchest supporters on Capitol Hill. Hunter pointed out several achievements in the last year, including the passage of an Iraq constitution and the selection of an Iraqi parliament.

"After some robust give-and-take, a broad, unity government was formed in April of this year," Hunter said.

Hunter also praised the military for training and equipping roughly 114 Iraqi military battalions, allowing for Iraqis to take control for stability and security in two of the 18 provinces. But the outgoing chairman acknowledged that the Iraqi military needs more combat experience before they are capable of defending and securing the country.