Former General says Rumsfeld views 'increasingly irrelevant.' Watch.
David Edwards
Published: Monday June 26, 2006
On NBC's Today Show Monday, Retired General McCaffery said that the U.S. troop commitment in Iraq is not sustainable. General Casey has laid out a flexible troop withdrawal which McCaffery agrees is necessary. The General believes that Rumsfeld's views on troop levels in Iraq is no longer relevant. The decision to pull troops out will be based on election politics and the opinion of leadership on the ground in Iraq.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE (Windows Media).
Quick transcript of some of the relevant parts of the interview:
Interviewer: Retired General Barry McCaffery is an NBC News military analyst. He is joining us.
McCaffery: Good morning, Campbell.
Interviewer: So, you've been to Iraq numerous times, based on your assessment of the situation on the ground. Do you think this plan is realistic.
McCaffery: Yeah, sure. I think the assumption by General Casey and Ambassador Khalizad and General Abizaid, who is the Centcom commander, is that by the end of the Summer, probably 300,000 Iraqi security forces -- increasingly they will take the lead in most parts of Iraq. Probably except for Anbar Province and the City of Baghdad. So, realistic assumptions, it's probably going to occur. He's got to do it. The Army and Marine Corps cannot keep up with this rate of deployment.
McCaffery: I don't see how we can continue losing, you know, essentially a battalion of soldiers and Marines -- killed and wounded -- a month. 130,000 troops deployed in Iraq and there are 20,000 in Afghanistan. The Army and Marine Corps can not sustain this level of deployment. So, politics aside, I think from a military perspective, we are going to be forced to draw down which ought to work if the Iraqi security forces and Maliki's(sp?) political system can then pick up internal security.
Interviewer: And finally General, how much of a role is the Secretary of Defense -- is Rumsfeld playing in all this? Is this or is this being driven now by General Casey and the White House?
McCaffery: Well, I think that his views are probably increasingly irrelevant. This is not going to be a question decided by anybody but the ambassador and Casey on the ground. Abazaid(sp?), he's got a feel for the Centcom region and at the end of the day the President knows his administration, you know, reputation rests on a successful execution. So, I don't think the Pentagon's playing a major role anymore.
Link Here
Published: Monday June 26, 2006
On NBC's Today Show Monday, Retired General McCaffery said that the U.S. troop commitment in Iraq is not sustainable. General Casey has laid out a flexible troop withdrawal which McCaffery agrees is necessary. The General believes that Rumsfeld's views on troop levels in Iraq is no longer relevant. The decision to pull troops out will be based on election politics and the opinion of leadership on the ground in Iraq.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE (Windows Media).
Quick transcript of some of the relevant parts of the interview:
Interviewer: Retired General Barry McCaffery is an NBC News military analyst. He is joining us.
McCaffery: Good morning, Campbell.
Interviewer: So, you've been to Iraq numerous times, based on your assessment of the situation on the ground. Do you think this plan is realistic.
McCaffery: Yeah, sure. I think the assumption by General Casey and Ambassador Khalizad and General Abizaid, who is the Centcom commander, is that by the end of the Summer, probably 300,000 Iraqi security forces -- increasingly they will take the lead in most parts of Iraq. Probably except for Anbar Province and the City of Baghdad. So, realistic assumptions, it's probably going to occur. He's got to do it. The Army and Marine Corps cannot keep up with this rate of deployment.
McCaffery: I don't see how we can continue losing, you know, essentially a battalion of soldiers and Marines -- killed and wounded -- a month. 130,000 troops deployed in Iraq and there are 20,000 in Afghanistan. The Army and Marine Corps can not sustain this level of deployment. So, politics aside, I think from a military perspective, we are going to be forced to draw down which ought to work if the Iraqi security forces and Maliki's(sp?) political system can then pick up internal security.
Interviewer: And finally General, how much of a role is the Secretary of Defense -- is Rumsfeld playing in all this? Is this or is this being driven now by General Casey and the White House?
McCaffery: Well, I think that his views are probably increasingly irrelevant. This is not going to be a question decided by anybody but the ambassador and Casey on the ground. Abazaid(sp?), he's got a feel for the Centcom region and at the end of the day the President knows his administration, you know, reputation rests on a successful execution. So, I don't think the Pentagon's playing a major role anymore.
Link Here
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 1:49 AM
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