Casey Faces McCain Criticism at Hearing for Army Job

[Ron Burgundy]

Bloomberg - Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Senator John McCain (news, bio, voting record) subjected General George Casey to harsh criticism at the start of a hearing today on Casey's nomination to be Army chief of staff, saying Casey presided over a deteriorating situation as commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and didn't change strategy to halt the decline.

``While I do not in any way question your honor, patriotism or service to your country, I do question some of the decisions you've made in the past two and a half years,'' McCain, an Arizona Republican, told Casey.

McCain said that, during Casey's tenure as commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, the situation there ``has gotten progressively worse'' and is best described today as ``dire and deteriorating.''

Yet U.S. strategy under Casey's leadership remained essentially unchanged, continuing to focus on training Iraqi security forces, McCain said.

The senator also accused Casey of making overly ``rosy'' statements about the course of events in Iraq that were not borne out by events.

Casey responded in his opening statement by arguing that significant progress has been made in training Iraqi forces and that those forces are now on a path to assume primary responsibility for maintaining security in the near future.

`Increasingly Ready'

``They are not quite ready to assume responsibility for security in Baghdad or Iraq, but they are increasingly ready and willing to take the lead'' on security operations with American support,'' Casey said.

In response to a question from McCain, Casey said he disagreed with the recent statements of other U.S. officials that the U.S. had been pursuing a failed policy in Iraq.

Casey also suggested that his support for President George W. Bush's plan to add up to 21,500 new U.S. troops to Iraq was less than wholehearted.

Under questioning by Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record) of Michigan, a critic of the buildup, Casey said his earlier statements reflecting opposition to adding troops still reflected his ``general view.''

He said that when it became clear that a decision had been made to adopt a more aggressive strategy to quell sectarian violence in Baghdad, he agreed to the addition of new forces to achieve that goal.

``My general belief is, I did not want to bring one more American solider into Iraq than was necessary to fulfill the mission,'' Casey said.

Surprised by Death Squads

In written answers to senators' questions released as the hearing opened, Casey acknowledged that U.S. forces in Iraq were ``slow to anticipate the extent'' of radical Shiite death squads, didn't have enough manpower to keep neighborhoods secure and allowed too many restrictions to be placed on them.

``We did not have enough Iraqi and coalition forces to continue to secure neighborhoods that had previously been previously cleared of terrorists and insurgents,'' Casey said in his written answers.

Casey said the impact of the Shiite death squads, as well as the operations of Sunni insurgents and al-Qaeda, is still being felt in Iraq. The recent commitments of Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki to add new Iraqi forces to Baghdad and crack down on all extremists regardless of sectarian affiliation should improve the situation, he said.

Administrative Post

Bush announced his intention to nominate Casey, 58, to the top Army post on Jan. 5.

The chief of staff, while not in the direct chain of command, has overall administrative responsibility for the functioning of the 502,000-member Army.

Supporters credit Casey with turning around a disorganized situation when he arrived in Iraq in 2004 by developing a strategic plan where none existed previously.

Critics say Casey stuck with that plan -- which centered on training Iraqi forces to take over primary responsibility for security -- long after events proved it wasn't working.

Casey, along with his immediate superior, General John Abizaid, expressed doubts last year about the efficacy of sending more U.S. troops to Iraq. A Jan. 2 New York Times story quoted Casey as saying: ``The longer we in the U.S. forces continue to bear the main burden of Iraq's security, it lengthens the time that the government of Iraq has to take the hard decisions about reconciliation and dealing with the militias.''

Later, in January, when Bush announced plans to add 21,500 troops as part of a new strategy to quell sectarian violence in Baghdad, Casey expressed support for the move.

During the summer of 2005, Casey said ``fairly substantial'' U.S. troop withdrawals could be possible by early 2006 because the situation in Iraq was improving. Later that year, he acknowledged that a worsening security environment precluded withdrawals.

Before the Iraq command, Casey served in the Pentagon as director of strategic plans for the military's joint staff and as the Army's vice chief of staff.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ken Fireman in Washington at kfireman1@bloomberg.net

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20070201/pl_bloomberg/ar4areumt3te [link]