Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee - State of the United States Army
Interview
Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee - State of the United States Army
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SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Secretary, General, welcome.
General Casey is the former commander of Multi-National Forces in Iraq and General Petraeus, his predecessor. Could you give the committee your assessment of the effectiveness of the surge of additional troops and operations in Iraq over the last two months?
GEN. CASEY: I could give you my personal views, but I think Dave Petraeus did a marvelous job of laying that out for everybody in September and I certainly agree with his -- the way he portrayed it.
SEN. CORNYN: I agree he did a good job in September. I wondered -- maybe I could just ask you to update your observations from that September timeframe over the last two months.
GEN. CASEY: My impression is -- reading the reports and actually talking to Dave -- it's continued -- the security situation has continued to improve.
SEN. CORNYN: It certainly seems to be the -- be all --
GEN. CASEY: I'm hesitating -- it's not what I do anymore.
SEN. CORNYN: I got you.
The -- it seems to be all the published reports I read that -- number of attacks down, casualties down, improvised explosive devices down, imported explosively formed penetrators from Iran down -- sounds like some progress. I want to ask you a little bit about the criticism that has been made against national Iraqi leaders for lack of political reconciliation progress and to just ask you from your experience -- and you've got more experience than just about anybody on the planet in Iraq -- were you surprised, or did you expect to see the kind of reconciliation process from the bottom up that we've observed in places like Anbar Province and which is now apparently extending to other areas of the country?
GEN. CASEY: I wasn't surprised with the progress in Anbar Province. That was in process -- or in progress as we were there. So the seeds were basically led -- laid for this progress there. This -- and I'm exceeding my brief here, but the Sunni were really in the middle in the time I was leaving because they were being attacked by al Qaeda, they were being attacked by the Shi'a and they were being attacked by us if they were attacking us. So the fact that they've decided to come in and seek some support is not surprising to me
SEN. CORNYN: Well, I guess there are different types of political reconciliation. If our own country -- as I recall my American history, with the 13 colonies and the states that created the national government -- and so it probably -- it shouldn't be surprising to us that local and provincial reconciliation could well proceed and compliment efforts made for reconciliation at the national level.
And I would expect that all of us hoping and praying for success in our efforts and our ability to bring our troops home as soon as conditions on the ground permit, I would think we would all rejoice and be pleased at those developments.
Let me ask you, you've talked -- you and Secretary Geren have talked about the consequences of the -- of limiting the funds for the so-called bridge, which I would think, for a more descriptive term, it'd be emergency troop funding for the war effort -- would be a better way to talk about it. But the House has sent over a $50 billion emergency troop funding bill when the Pentagon has requested a $200 billion fund, about a -- right at a quarter of what's requested. But it comes with a few additions which I'd like for you to comment on. One is a goal for withdrawal of all troops by December the 15th, 2008. What would be the consequence of Congress adopting and the president signing a troop-funding provision that provided a goal for withdrawing on December the 15th, 2008 --
SEN. LEVIN: Senator Cornyn, yield just on that because it doesn't say "all troops." I wonder if the senator might agree that it doesn't say all and --
SEN. CORNYN: I stand corrected, Mr. Chairman.
A goal for withdrawal for all troops except those necessary for diplomatic security counterterror operations by December the 15th, 2008.
SEC. GEREN: Well, the president, as I understand, made it clear that he wouldn't sign an appropriation with those sort of strings -- with those sort of limitations. So I --
SEN. CORNYN: Let me amend my question. Let's just say, what would be the consequence of Congress passing that legislation? We can leave it to the president to make his mind up as to what he intends to do with it.
SEC. GEREN: Well, from the perspective of the -- you know, Army and our organized train-and-equip role, I would -- I'd be reluctant to offer a strategic or a tactical perspective from the field. So let me decline to answer that other than that the president has it clear that he will not sign that. And so the Army is having to plan as if that route to funding our needs is not going to become a reality. And we are forced to look into the future, try to anticipate what our funding challenges are going to be and plan accordingly, and that's what we're doing.
SEN. CORNYN: Well, I'm -- I am asking you what a withdrawal date, even as a goal -- whether that is helpful or unhelpful in terms of advancing the security situation in Iraq.
General Casey, what's your opinion?
GEN. CASEY: With my Joint Chiefs hat on, Senator, I'd --
SEN. CORNYN: Sir, you have those four stars on your shoulder and I respect your military judgment. And whether or not it's within your current portfolio, you have a lot more experience than anybody up here on this side of the bench and I'd like your views.
GEN. CASEY: It has been the consistent policy of the Joint Chiefs that any type of firm withdrawal date would undermine our ability to conduct the operations there in Iraq or Afghanistan.
SEN. CORNYN: Would it make any military sense in your opinion, General Casey, to limit the range of permissible operations by the commander of Multi-National Forces in Iraq to diplomatic security and counterterror operations?
GEN. CASEY: It's also been the consistent position of the chiefs that any statutory limitation to the mission of the commander on the ground in an environment as complex as Iraq is -- that would be extremely detrimental to the accomplishment of this mission.
SEN. CORNYN: And that's your view as well.
GEN. CASEY: And that's my view as well.
SEN. CORNYN: And finally, there's a provision in the House bill that would extend the Army's approved interrogation techniques under the Army Field Manual to all federal agencies and employees. Do you have any opinion or understanding as to why a provision that would not apply to the uniformed military would be included in a emergency troop funding bill?
GEN. CASEY: I don't, Senator. I don't have any background on that.
SEN. CORNYN: That was, I take it, not part of the request from the Pentagon to cover non-uniform government employees.
GEN. CASEY: Not from the Department of the Army. I don't know if the Department of Defense had something --
SEN. CORNYN: And Mr. Secretary, is that your understanding as well?
SEC. GEREN: That is -- that was not part of the request.
SEN. CORNYN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My time is up.
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