|
WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday the
“endgame” is now in sight in Iraq but warned of the costly
consequences of withdrawing US forces too hastily.
“I fear that frustration over slow progress
and dismay over sacrifices already made may result in decisions that
are gratifying in the short term but very costly to us in the long
term,” he said.
Gates made the comments in a speech delivered to
US special operations forces at their headquarters in Tampa, Florida
in which he emphasized that they will be needed in Iraq and
Afghanistan for a long time.
While he made no direct mention of calls by
Democratic leaders for deep cuts in US forces next year under a new
administration, Gates clearly had them in mind in cautioning against
pulling out too quickly.
“We are now seeing what the endgame in Iraq
looks like—with our forces drawing down over time, in a series of
very complex battlefield rearrangements that slowly cede more
responsibility for day-to-day security operations to the Iraqis,”
the prepared remarks said.
“It is a slow process—slower than most would
wish, myself included,” he said. “But it is necessary if we are
to get the endgame right.”
The United States currently has about 155,000
troops in Iraq, but the number is supposed to fall to about 140,000
by July.
General David Petraeus, the top US commander in
Iraq, has insisted that the drawdown be halted at that point to see
whether Iraqi security forces prove capable of taking up the slack.
Gates recalled the string of past failures when
security was handed over to Iraqi forces before they were ready
“based on overly rosy predictions that didn’t necessarily line
up with reality.”
“We must be realistic about the challenges
still facing Iraq: Al-Qaeda remains a lethal force, a cancer, always
looking to metastasize and regenerate; armed militias still
undermine the rule of law; and the government, while making great
strides, still has a lot to learn about how to deliver basic
services and security to its people,” he said.
Gates argued that succeeding in Iraq and
Afghanistan is crucial to the broader war on terrorism, which he
portrayed as a long struggle against religiously motivated
international terrorism.
“The task before us is to fracture and destroy
this movement in its infancy, to permanently reduce its ability to
strike globally and catastrophically, while also discrediting and
deflating its ideology.
“And our best opportunity to do this is in
Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.
US success in those countries would “strike a
decisive blow” against an Islamic extremist movement that has been
“methodically built on the illusion of success,” he said.
He highlighted the role of US special operations
forces, which now number about 55,000, noting that 80 percent of
those deployed are in the Central Command area of operations.
“Even as our regular troops reduce their
presence and are replaced by Iraqis, special operations force levels
will remain fairly constant and be the connective tissue of the
overall mission,” he said.
-- AFP
|
