Saturday, August 05, 2006
Military RhetIraq: Civil War in Iraq Looming
Who: Gen. John Abizaid (Commander of US Central Command) and Gen. Peter Pace (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff)
Source: Reuters
Quotes: From article titled, "Top U.S. generals see threat of Iraq civil war"
Iraq is caught in the worst sectarian violence yet seen and faces the threat of civil war, two of the United States' senior generals said on Thursday, three years after the U.S. invasion.
"Sectarian violence probably is as bad as I've seen it, in Baghdad in particular," Army Gen. John Abizaid, the head of U.S. Central Command, told a Senate hearing. "If not stopped, it is possible that Iraq could move toward civil war."
Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, the most senior U.S. military officer, also said there was a "possibility" of civil war in Iraq, where the violence has claimed about 100 lives a day. Asked whether he would have seen a chance of civil war a year ago, He replied, "No, sir."
Abizaid, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee with Pace and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, said the violence in Baghdad hurts prospects for reducing troop levels in Iraq, now at about 133,000.
Sectarian violence in Iraq has intensified despite a security crackdown that has added thousands of troops to the streets.
Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia, the committee's chairman, suggested the Bush administration might have to come back to Congress for authorization to remain in Iraq if the situation spirals into civil war.
Abizaid said, however, that Iraq's slide into civil war could be halted because the Iraqi Army was holding together and the government remains committed to preventing it.
"I'm optimistic that slide can be prevented," he said.
Source: Reuters
Quotes: From article titled, "Top U.S. generals see threat of Iraq civil war"
Iraq is caught in the worst sectarian violence yet seen and faces the threat of civil war, two of the United States' senior generals said on Thursday, three years after the U.S. invasion.
"Sectarian violence probably is as bad as I've seen it, in Baghdad in particular," Army Gen. John Abizaid, the head of U.S. Central Command, told a Senate hearing. "If not stopped, it is possible that Iraq could move toward civil war."
Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, the most senior U.S. military officer, also said there was a "possibility" of civil war in Iraq, where the violence has claimed about 100 lives a day. Asked whether he would have seen a chance of civil war a year ago, He replied, "No, sir."
Abizaid, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee with Pace and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, said the violence in Baghdad hurts prospects for reducing troop levels in Iraq, now at about 133,000.
Sectarian violence in Iraq has intensified despite a security crackdown that has added thousands of troops to the streets.
Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia, the committee's chairman, suggested the Bush administration might have to come back to Congress for authorization to remain in Iraq if the situation spirals into civil war.
Abizaid said, however, that Iraq's slide into civil war could be halted because the Iraqi Army was holding together and the government remains committed to preventing it.
"I'm optimistic that slide can be prevented," he said.
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