Senators suggest troops withdrawal from Iraqi civil war

Washington, Aug 7: Two US senators, a Democrat and a Republican, say the increase in sectarian violence in Iraq could require a new congressional mandate, leading to the potential withdrawal of American forces from the country.

''This is a civil war. I think the generals, the other day, were cautious in their language. But I think they were telling something loud and clear to anyone who wanted to listen,'' said Sen Christopher J Dodd Democrat, Connecticut.

''And I, frankly, do not believe that US military people can necessarily play referee in that kind of a situation. I think we are being asked to do something that is impossible for us to achieve under these circumstances,'' Mr Dodd told CBS' ''Face the Nation'' talk show here yesterday.

Mr Dodd was referring to remarks made at a Senate panel hearing last week by two American military commanders of how the insurgency was fast deteriorating and could lead to civil war.

Echoing similar views Sen Chuck Hagel, Nebraska Republican, told CBS, ''It is very wrong to put American troops in a hopeless, winless situation, just keep feeding them into what's going on.

That's irresponsible, and that is wrong.'' On ABC's ''This Week,'' Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice refused to say whether US forces would be forced to withdraw from Iraq in the event of a civil war.

On Friday, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John W Warner said the Iraq war resolution passed by Congress in 2002 may not authorise US forces to be in Iraq if civil war breaks out. ''We have to very carefully examine what the Congress authorised the president to do in the context of a situation if we are faced with an all-out civil war and whether we have to come back to the Congress to get further indication of support,'' the Virginia Republican said.

During their appearance before Warner's Committee, two top US generals said the conflict between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims has escalated but that they do not expect it to evolve into a full-scale civil war.

''I believe that the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I have seen it and that if not stopped, it is possible that Iraq could move toward civil war,'' said Gen John Abizaid, the top US commander in the West Asia.

''We do have the possibility of that devolving into civil war,'' said Marine Gen Peter Pace, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the committee, Sen Joseph R Biden Jr of Delaware, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, continued to reject his party's growing calls for an immediate withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.

''There is no clever way to surrender and pull out,'' Mr Biden told Fox News Sunday.

''I think where we go from here, with all the problems and inconsistencies, is a cold, hard assessment that Iraq is not going to turn out the way that we were promised it was,'' Mr Hagel said.

''We might provide some modicum of security for a while. But in the long run, this is an Iraqi issue,'' Mr Dodd said.

''The Iraqi politicians, police and the people themselves have to assume responsibility for this. They don't seem to be willing to do it. Therefore, I think this is, really, a civil war today, as it exists,'' he added.

UNI