The Pentagon raised the stakes Thursday in the debate over bills to fund the Iraq war, with Defense Secretary Robert Gates saying the legislation’s troop withdrawal timelines would lead to “a dramatic increase in sectarian violence.”
The Pentagon also released a letter from the four military service chiefs in which they urged lawmakers to approve an emergency war–spending bill or risk a less-ready armed forces.
If the bill does not become law this month, the chiefs of the Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy wrote, “the armed services will be forced to take increasingly disruptive measures in order to sustain combat operations. The impacts on readiness and quality of life could be profound.”
Gates, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, said, “I believe if we were precipitously to withdraw from Baghdad at this point, that there would be a dramatic increase in sectarian violence.”
The defense chief said Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, will not know if an ongoing troop surge is working until the summer.
The comments come as President Bush and the Democratic-controlled Congress head for a showdown in how or whether to fund the Iraq war’s fifth year.
Democratic-sponsored House and Senate bills both contain timelines for American troops to leave Iraq next year. Bush has promised to veto such a bill.
Congress is in recess and has not yet reconciled the two bills so a final one can be sent to the president. Once Bush vetoes it, then a new debate kicks off over whether Democrats will send him a “clean bill” absent timelines.
Some Democrats advocate sending no bill at all, effectively cutting off funds, which would force Bush to order home the troops this year. Regardless, it seems unlikely at this point that a funding bill will be signed into law this month.
The four service chiefs warned in the letter that “spending restrictions will delay and disrupt our follow-on forces as they prepare for war, possibly compromising future readiness and strategic agility.”
Signing the letter were Gen. Peter Schoomaker, Army chief; Gen. T. Michael Moseley, Air Force chief; Adm. Michael Mullen, chief of naval operations; and Gen. James Conway, Marine commandant.
