Another 10 Years in Iraq?

By Liz Sidoti, TheAssociated Press
Published: October 19, 2005

WASHINGTON—Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday refused to rule out the possibility of U.S. troops still serving in Iraq in 10 years or U.S. military force against Syria and Iran.

Rice deferred to the decisions of President Bush and military commanders as members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee pressed her for more specifics on the U.S. strategy in Iraq.

Asked whether the U.S. would have troops in Iraq in five years or 10 years, Rice said: “I think that even to try and speculate on how many years from now there will be a certain number of American forces is not appropriate.”

White House spokesman Scott McClellan also would not rule out the chance of a U.S. troop presence that far in the future.

“In terms of decisions about troop levels, we’ve always said that we will look to our commanders on the ground and they will be the ones who will make decisions based on circumstances on the ground,” McClellan said.

Lawmakers also pressed Rice on strategy for dealing with Iran and Syria, two of Iraq’s neighbors. U.S. officials have accused Syria of allowing foreign fighters to cross into Iraq. The Bush administration contends Iran is supporting the Iraqi insurgency.

Rice said the U.S. was using diplomacy to urge a change in the behavior of Syria and Iran. But she stopped short of ruling out military force. “I’m not going to get into what the president’s options might be,” Rice said. “I don’t think the president ever takes any of his options off the table concerning anything to do with military force.”

Rice sought to reassure jittery lawmakers, who are hearing from constituents weary of the war, that the administration had a plan for helping Iraqis drive out insurgents and build durable, national institutions.

Testifying before the committee for the first time since February, the secretary said the U.S. will follow a model that was successful in Afghanistan. Starting next month, she said, joint diplomatic-military groups will work alongside Iraqis as they train police, set up courts, and help local governments establish essential services.

Lawmakers from both parties asked the kind of questions they said the public wants answers to.


“I’m not looking for a date to get out of Iraq,” said Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, the committee’s top Democrat. “But at what point, assuming the strategy works, do you think we’ll be able to see some sign of bringing some American forces home?”

Rice declined to answer directly, choosing to leave an estimate to military commanders. “I don’t want to hazard what I think would be a guess, even if it were an assessment, of when that might be possible,” Rice said.

Later, Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., told Rice that her response to questions about U.S. troop withdrawal “leads me to draw the conclusion that you’re leaving open the possibility that 10 years from now we will still have military forces in Iraq.”

Rice said on response: “I don’t know how to speculate about what will happen 10 years from now, but I do believe that we are moving on a course on which Iraqi security forces are rather rapidly able to take care of their own security concerns.”

Republican Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island were among several lawmakers who pressed Rice on U.S. strategy on Iran and Syria. Democrats asked whether the administration was considering military action against those countries and whether the president would circumvent congressional authorization if the White House chose that option.
“I will not say anything that constrains his authority as commander in chief,” Rice said.

The senators’ questioning followed Rice’s earlier remark that Syria and Iran “must decide whether they wish to side with the cause of war or with the cause of peace.”

As Rice spoke, a woman in the second row of spectators shouted “Stop the killing in Iraq.” A police officer motioned her out of the room.
By the State Department’s design, Rice testified just days after Iraq apparently approved its first constitution since a U.S.-led coalition ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 2003. Her appearance also coincided with the start of Saddam’s trial in Baghdad for a massacre of 150 Iraqis.

McClellan said the trial was “a symbol that the rule of law is returning to Iraq.”
Rice heralded the referendum on the charter as “a landmark” and said the U.S. strategy was moving from a stage of transition to one of preparing a permanent Iraqi government.

She described the administration’s plan as intended to “clear areas from insurgent control, to hold them securely, and to build durable, national Iraqi institutions.”

“Our strategy is to clear, hold, and build,” she said. “The enemy’s strategy is to infect, terrorize, and pull down.”

Alongside Iraq’s allies, she said, the U.S. is working to dismantle the insurgent network and disrupt foreign support for it; maintain security in areas insurgents no longer hold; and build national institutions to support security forces, deliver essential services, bring the rule of law and offer Iraqis the hope for a better economic future.
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On the Net:
Senate Foreign Relations Committee: http://foreign.senate.gov
State Department: http://www.state.gov