Lawmakers Take Shots at Pentagon
WASHINGTON — The men directing the war in Iraq told testy and nervous congressional panels Thursday that the sophisticated insurgency had not declined in strength but asserted that U.S. troops were making steady progress and victory was certain.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and top generals warned that bowing to pressure for a troop pullout would plunge Iraq into chaos.
"If the coalition were to leave before the Iraqi security forces are able to assume responsibility, we would one day again have to confront another Iraqi regime, perhaps even more dangerous than the last," Rumsfeld told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
During eight hours of testimony, lawmakers from the North and South, from Democratic and Republican constituencies, expressed worries about declining public confidence in a war in which more than 1,700 U.S. troops have died, a toll that increases almost daily.
"I fear that American public opinion is tipping away from this effort," said Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), a staunch supporter of military involvement in Iraq. Surveys this month have shown that only about four in 10 Americans still support the effort.
As Pentagon officials spoke to House and Senate committees, Iraqi insurgents continued a devastating campaign of attacks on Baghdad's streets, setting off a string of car bombings in the capital that killed at least 33 people and wounded 95 Wednesday and Thursday.
The appearance by Rumsfeld and three top generals, who at times made their cases with color charts on giant poster boards, marked the opening of a six-day push by the Bush administration to shore up confidence in its strategy in Iraq. President Bush plays host to Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari today and plans a major address Tuesday. Other administration officials are also expected to weigh in on the issue in coming days.
Salvaging public support on Iraq has grown in importance for the administration as it encounters mounting opposition on other fronts, including Bush's chief domestic priority of overhauling Social Security and the nomination of John R. Bolton to be ambassador to the United Nations.
Inside the opulent Senate Caucus Room on Thursday, longtime opponents of involvement in Iraq fired shots at Rumsfeld and criticized the Pentagon's post-invasion planning.
Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) told Rumsfeld to "get off your high horse" and stop answering questions "with a sneer."
