Shays Defends Call for Timeline for Withdrawal of Troops
SPERLING
Norwalk Hour
Jamie Hammon
Boston University Washington News Service
9-14-06
WASHINGTON – Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) Thursday defended his recent call for a timeline to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.
“I want my credibility back,” Shays, who recently returned from his 14th trip to Iraq, told reporters. “I do think that I know more about what’s going on in Iraq than any member of Congress – House or Senate.”
Shays’ support of the Iraq war has helped make him vulnerable in the upcoming mid-term election against Democrat Diane Farrell. Critics say this recent policy shift has a political, rather than a policy, motive.
“There’s a certain ironic twist that he should be doing this 50 days from Election Day,” said Farrell, who lost narrowly to Shays in 2004 running on an anti-war platform. “He should have been drilling into these serious issues the moment that Congress passed the war authorization.”
In response, Shays cited recommendations he made in July advising the administration that the United States would have no choice but to withdraw its troops and leave Iraq if the embattled country’s leadership did not step up. He noted that this recommendation was made before Sen. Joe Lieberman’s pro-Iraq war stance cost him the Connecticut Democratic primary.
The Iraq war is likely to play a key role in the mid-term elections, but it remains unclear whether frustrated voters will simply vote Republicans out of Congress or demand a clear exit strategy of their opponents. Shays remains a strong supporter of the war, calling it a noble cause, but now proposes a timeline. Farrell has been anti-war from day one. She has called for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation and has demanded that any successor have an exit strategy.
Under Shays’ withdrawal plan, as Iraqi troops become more qualified, they should gradually replace American troops. In the short term, that could mean an increase in U.S. troops deployed there.
“There is a huge disconnect for me in the fact that we have 294,000 Iraqi security forces, and not one American has stepped down,” Shays said. “As the Iraqis step up, we [should] step down.”
He is calling for the administration to make public the number of Iraqi citizens in problem areas so the appropriate number of security forces required can be calculated.
Shays’ Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats & International Relations is holding hearings on his plan this week.
“I believe that we have to make the Iraqis realize that we are not going to stay a day longer than we need to,” Shays said. “And we can predict it almost to the day. We know how long it takes to train an Iraqi soldier, and my view is that once they have their six months of training and once they have a year on the firing line, they are competent.”
Farrell disagreed.
“That is quite a remarkable statement, and one that I feel he isn’t qualified to make as a non-military expert,” she said. “And where he should be focusing his energies is in holding the generals and Mr. Rumsfeld accountable.”
Shays said the administration has made many mistakes with the war and that since January of this year, there has been no progress at all. Asked how he could continue to support the administration, Shays said, “Because the alternative is worse.
“I believe strongly in the war in Iraq. I believe strongly that it is a noble mission. I believe that the only way we are going to turn around this world is to help introduce democracy.”
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