Rumsfeld Testifies to Senate About Iraq WASHINGTON
The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East told Congress on Thursday that "Iraq could move toward civil war" if the raging sectarian violence in Baghdad is not stopped.
"I believe that the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I have seen it," Gen. John Abizaid, the commander of U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. He said the top priority in the Iraq war is to secure the capital, where factional violence has surged in recent weeks despite efforts by the new Iraqi government to stop the fighting.
Abizaid, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other top military officers testified Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee amid fresh reports that said up to two-thirds of the Army's combat units are unprepared for wartime missions because of the strain of operations in Iraq.
The Pentagon is trying to convince lawmakers, divided over the war in Iraq, that the mission is not breaking the Army and that extending the tours of some troops is necessary to quell increasing violence in the region.
Rumsfeld had said Wednesday he essentially was too busy to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee and would instead attend a private briefing with the entire Senate on Thursday. He changed his mind after hours of criticism and pressure from Senate Democrats, including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who said the Pentagon chief should be accountable to the public by answering questions on the war.
The Pentagon offered no reason for Rumsfeld's change of plans. Earlier, it had said the defense secretary has made an aggressive effort to meet with lawmakers regularly, including testimony at an appropriations hearing earlier this year and at other classified briefings.
Rumsfeld's relations with Congress have been testy at times and he occasionally has resisted testifying publicly on contentious subjects, including the debate over whether high-level officials should be held accountable for the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.
The Pentagon this week announced its decision to extend the tours of an Alaskan Army brigade to bolster security around a volatile Baghdad and push troop levels to roughly 135,000 _ dashing the Bush administration's hopes of dropping the figure by tens of thousands by the fall congressional campaigns.
On the Net:
Pentagon: http://defenselink.mil
Senate Armed Services Committee:
http://armed-services.senate.gov
