When it comes to the short-term future of Iraq, it’s all about expectations.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ken.) has one idea in mind…
SCHIEFFER: Well, you said the other day — and I’m going to use your words here — the handwriting is on the wall, that we are going in a different direction in the fall, and I expect the president to lead it. What did you mean by that, Senator?
MCCONNELL: Well, by that, I mean the surge is going to come to an end, obviously. It’s now — the buildup in troops is now complete. It will obviously go on over the summer. I think everybody anticipates that there’s going to be a new strategy in the fall. I don’t think we’ll have the same level of troops, in all likelihood, that we have now. The Iraqis will have to step up, not only on the political side, but on the military side, to a greater extent. We’re not there forever. I think they understand that. And the time to properly evaluate that, it strikes me, is in September.
…and Gen. David Petraeus has another.
Today on Fox News Sunday…Petraeus admitted that he didn’t expect the “surge” to be done by September, the date set for Petraeus’ supposedly make-it or break-it report to Congress. Asked by host Chris Wallace whether he believed “the job would be done by the surge by September,” Petraeus responded, “I do not, no.” Watch it:
Asked in a follow up question if that meant “enhanced troop levels would continue for some months after that and into 2008,” Petraeus refused to answer. “Again, premature right now,” said Petraeus. “A number of options out there. And I’m not about to announce what we might do here today, I’m afraid.”
Petraeus then went on to endorse the “Korea model” for Iraq, which envisions keeping troops in the country for decades. “[T]ypically, I think historically, counterinsurgency operations have gone at least nine or ten years,” said Petraeus. “I think in general that that’s probably a fairly realistic assessment,” Petraeus said of the Korea comparison.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has one set of expectations…
Actually, we completely reject the word “pressure.” We always tell them that there are two things you should avoid: That word [pressure], because the Iraqi government is a sovereign government, and giving timetables, because timetables are harmful for them and for us. When the U.S. defense secretary said, “We want to stay for 50 years in Iraq,” this had unpleasant consequences because this issue is the Iraqi government’s business.
…and Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) has another.
Smith’s loneliness may be assuaged in September, when Petraeus reports on the effects of the troop surge. “There is,” Smith says, “a high expectation that we” — Republican senators — “will be able to vote for something different in September.” And: “I can,” he says, “think of a dozen Republican senators who will be with me in September.”
What’s that Green Day song? Wake me up when September ends.
