Gutknecht gives grim assessment

By Mark FischenichThe Free Press

— Congressman Gil Gutknecht found the situation in Iraq more bleak than he anticipated during a weekend visit to the war zone, and said a partial withdrawal of some American troops might be wise.

Gutknecht, a strong supporter of the war since it began in March of 2003, told reporters in a telephone conference call Tuesday that American forces appear to have no operational control of much of Baghdad.

“The condition there is worse than I expected,” he said. “... I have to be perfectly candid: Baghdad is a serious problem.”

The 1st District Republican said he was deeply impressed by the professionalism of American soldiers and gained hope from the more stabile situation in the Kurdish-dominated northern region of Iraq.

But he said the next six weeks could be critical in determining whether stability can eventually come to the rest of the country, and he believes removing some American troops is necessary to send the Iraqi government a message that it can’t rely so heavily on the American military much longer.

His assessment of the problems facing Iraq and the potential value of removing some American troops comes one month after Gutknecht was widely quoted during a debate in the House about the war.

“Members, now is not the time to go wobbly,” Gutknecht said on June 15. “Let’s give victory a chance.”

While Gutknecht is still not in favor of setting deadlines for the withdrawal of all American troops, he said the situation in Iraq’s largest city has clearly deteriorated.

“Baghdad is worse today than it was three years ago,” he said.

Ethnic violence between Sunni and Shiite factions in the country is escalating with gruesome attacks on civilians multiplying in recent months. An estimated 6,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in May and June — mostly by sectarian militants, according to a United Nations report. In the past two days alone, 120 died in attacks on civilian targets.

The nearly 300,000 Iraqi security forces that Bush administration officials say have been trained have shown little ability to halt the ethnic violence. A top American commander said recently that more American troops may need to be put on the streets to do the job.

Sending additional troops to Iraq would be “a terrible mistake,” Gutknecht said.
Gutknecht compared Iraq to a child learning to ride a bicycle and said America needs to be willing to let the country suffer some bruises as it attempts to take charge of its own affairs.

“I think it’s time to take off the training wheels of their bicycle,” he said.

Gutknecht was in Iraq from Saturday morning until late Sunday afternoon. His time in the country’s capital city was spent almost exclusively within the Green Zone, an area of central Baghdad that is heavily fortified and where all access is controlled by check-points.

“We learned it’s not safe to go anywhere outside of the Green Zone any part of the day,” he said.
The movements of Gutknecht and four other congressmen were carefully controlled by security forces worried about abduction attempts by insurgents, he said.

“They realize people like us are juicy targets.”

Gutknecht’s sobering report contrasts with many of his fellow conservative supporters of the war. The Republican National Committee sends out weekly e-mails to the media called “Iraq Facts” that paint a picture of steady progress toward stability and Iraqi self-governance. And conservative commentators have consistently said that the American people are being provided an overly dire picture of the Iraq war by the mainstream media.

“While a little bit of progress has been made, there’s an awful lot that needs to be done,” Gutknecht said.

Gutknecht was critical of some of the “spin” from Bush administration officials in the Pentagon and the State Department. He specifically pointed to past statements that a few hundred insurgents were causing the violence in the Iraq. Military officials say they’ve captured 10,000 even as the insurgency continues unabated.

“That’s a far cry from what we were told originally,” he said. “... All of the information we receive sometimes from the Pentagon and the State Department isn’t always true.”

The American troops, however, are performing heroically, he said.

“They’re doing a terrific job in enormously difficult circumstances.”

That doesn’t mean that more troops could win the war.

“What I think we need to do more is withdraw more Americans,” he said.

It’s up to Iraqis to fix Iraq, and they need to do it soon, according to Gutknecht.

“I think we’re at a very important tipping point, and the next six weeks is going to be critical,” he said, although he declined to elaborate on the dangers facing Iraq if the situation doesn’t improve by September. “... I don’t want to predict what will happen if things don’t get better.”

He did say that the patience of average Americans might begin to wear thin if improvements don’t come soon.

“Americans are going to start losing faith in this thing,” he said.

Walz says Iraq trip can lead to valuable debate on war
Congressional candidate Tim Walz welcomed his opponent’s new assessment of the situation in Iraq even while wondering why Rep. Gil Gutknecht didn’t reach the conclusion earlier.

“I’m glad now that he’s looking at the facts,” said Walz, DFL-Mankato. “Him being a cheerleader and ignoring reality hasn’t been helpful in trying to solve this situation.”

Walz retired as a command sergeant major after a 24 years in the Army National Guard, and he’s been critical of the way the Bush administration has prosecuted the war in Iraq.

Walz clearly expected Gutknecht to issue a more upbeat report following his weekend trip to the war zone. The Walz campaign sent out a news release early Tuesday asking his opponent to recognize that “Iraq is in turmoil and that the administration my opponent so willingly supports has failed to provide my brothers in arms with a plan.”

Later Tuesday, after Gutknecht said progress in much of Iraq has been limited and that he believes some American troops should be brought home, Walz said his opponent’s comments could be the start of a valuable discussion about finding a solution to the Iraq situation.

“This is an issue a lot bigger than myself and this campaign and this is a step in the right direction,” Walz said. “We welcome that this discussion is going to be had. I’ve been talking about it a long time.”

One point of disagreement appears to be Gutknecht’s willingness to withdraw American troops soon. Walz said it would be irresponsible to draw down troop levels if the primary motivation is improving the re-election chances of incumbents facing voters in November.

“If we draw them down before we’re prepared to protect the rest of our troops there, that’s incredibly dangerous,” Walz said.

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