SENATOR COLLINS QUESTIONS GENERAL PETRAEUS ON PLAN FOR ADDITIONAL TROOPS

             Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) today questioned the President’s nominee to be the new senior American commander in Iraq, pointedly expressing her concern about the Administration’s plans for sending additional troops into action there.  Lieutenant General David Petraeus, who the President appointed to replace General George Casey as commander of Multi-National Force in Iraq, testified today before the Senate Armed Services Committee.  The Committee, of which Senator Collins is a member, must approve General Petraeus’ nomination.   Click here for a video clip: Senator Susan Collins Questions General Petraeus in Armed Services Hearing               “In an article you wrote on the counterinsurgency… you talk about the need for the Iraqis to step up to the plate.  I worry that the strategy that we’re about to pursue relieves pressure on the Iraqis to do what must be done,” said Senator Collins.  “There’s a big question here of what comes first – do you need to provide the additional troops and the security in order to give (Iraqi Prime Minister) Maliki and other Iraqi leaders the space to perform the political moves that need to be undertaken, or in fact are you lessening the possibility that they’re going to do that?”               “We used to say what we wanted to do was to help the Iraqis get on their feet, we want to be near them, we want to back up.  But there are times when they start to wobble.  And the question is, when do you move back in and provide assistance,” responded General Petraeus.  “In the wake of the bombing of the Samara mosque and in the wake of the violence that escalated the later part of 2006, I think we have arrived at a point where we do need to help them a bit more… I think you very accurately captured, truthfully, the intellectual tension between the fear that our presence retards progress, holds it back, or that our presence can help.  And I do believe at this point, our presence can help and is needed.”              Senator Collins told General Petraeus about her conversations with troops in Iraq during her visit there last month.  She expressed concern echoed by a commander in Basra, who told her there was a declining “consent line” – meaning that when forces first arrived, their presence was welcomed by the population, but as time has gone on, their presence has become less and less tolerated.              Yesterday, Senator Collins introduced a bipartisan Senate resolution formally opposing the President’s plan to augment U.S. military forces in Iraq.  Former Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-VA) and Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Norm Coleman (R-MN) are also sponsoring the resolution.              General Petraeus is the author of the Army’s counterinsurgency manual.  Senator Collins first met General Petraeus during her first visit to Iraq in 2003, when he was serving his first tour of duty in the region.