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Panetta Says U.S. "Building Half a Bridge" in Iraq

A CNP Conversation with Leon Panetta

Leon Panetta Responds to the Petraeus Report.

September 12, 2007

Leon Panetta, Iraq Study Group Member and former White House Chief of Staff, addressed the audience at the Center for National Policy today.

Noting that the combined reports of General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker present at best a “mixed report,” Panetta summarized the situation report succinctly: our current policy in Iraq “is like building half a bridge.”

Petraeus’ hard-fought military progress is not enough without the Iraqis meeting us half way. Panetta believes that the “jury is in” on the Baghdad government of Nouri al-Maliki: it has failed to deliver the political progress necessary for reconciliation.

The prescription this member of the Iraq Study Group and former soldier outlines is far from the standard Beltway fare. Panetta believes that the mission needs to remain focused on helping stand up an Iraqi government that can govern, sustain, and defend itself. To do that, the Maliki government needs a great deal of pressure applied from three different directions: the White House, the neighboring countries, and the international community at large.

On the issue of withdrawal, Panetta sees the issue in two ways. He believes that politically, the president may be able to squeak by if he reduces by something more than 30,000 troops by next summer. That said, he also says that those who believe that withdrawal will effectively pressure the Iraqi government to act are mistaken.

Rather, Panetta believes American leverage is defined by the presence of those troops. The task now is to do whatever it takes to bring the neighboring countries into a process to get a resolution to Iraq.

As for Petraeus’ reports of success in bottom-up reconciliation, Panetta is concerned. To the extent bottom-up reconciliation is the beginning of a mission change—to something less than creating an Iraq that can govern, sustain, and defend itself—the former chief of staff says this raises alarms.

Given his analysis and policy prescription, Panetta recognizes Congress has a tough job ahead. While the House has the votes and the rules to do whatever the Leadership can agree on, the Senate is another matter. His recommendation he calls the “Warner Strategy.” Panetta recommends that leadership turn to retiring Virginia Senator John Warner, a widely-respected national security hand who could be given a writ to find a compromise package that can garner the necessary 60 votes in the Senate.

Failing some kind of swing to the middle, Panetta sees the administration handing Iraq off to the next president to deal with. That, the one-time White House chief of staff says, would be a real…[difficult situation].

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