Defense secretary makes case for staying the course in Iraq
Short-term extension of war funding under consideration in the House would be "hugely disruptive," chief says.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates told senators Wednesday that he foresees a long-term need for an American presence in Iraq and the Persian Gulf region, even if the Iraqi government can seize effective control of its own security and the bulk of U.S. troops are withdrawn from the large, ongoing "boots on the ground" conflict.
In testimony before the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace made their pitch for the Defense Department's request for $716 billion in fiscal 2008 to continue the anti-insurgency and war on terror fights in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as restock the depleted weapons and supplies of the armed forces.
But most of the testimony, in response to sharp questioning by subcommittee members, focused on the conduct of the Iraqi war and when it might be possible to start drawing down the American military participation in the fight.
Insisting that the "consequences of leaving Iraq in chaos has enormous implications for us here in the United States," Gates told the panel that some guidance on how the U.S. role might be shaped there could come in September when General David Patraeus provides a report on whether the current allied surge in Baghdad is improving the basic security situation in the region.
But he also said he expected that "there will continue to be a need" to maintain some American troops in Iraq for as long as the Iraqi government needs the support. "It's very likely that the United States will be required to have some level of troop presence for some period of time ... but it'll have to be a level that draws bipartisan support [in Congress and the country]." He added that the long-term strategic interests of the United States will require a substantial naval force in the Persian Gulf for an indeterminate period.
Asked by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., when American voters would be able to see some "light at the end of the tunnel" in Iraq, Gates said: "The honest answer is, we don't know." He went on to say that the threat of al-Qaida setting up a permanent presence in Iraq's western provinces, as a base for trouble-making throughout the region, in North Africa and even the United States, could mean a continuing and prominent role for U.S. military forces, in large or small units, for some time to come.
Gates also said a short-term extension of war funding through July, under consideration in the House, would be "hugely disruptive" and could have "a huge impact on readiness and reset contracting." The practical consequences of running the Pentagon, he said, would "require me to try to drive the department in a skiff when I'm actually trying to drive a supertanker."
He said that thousands of accounts for various operations and contracting would have to be "turned off and on" monthly and "would require a level of agility that's not necessarily [a trait of] the Department of Defense."