Gen. Petraeus Will Have to Admit Failure of Surge Policy

May 25 (LPAC)--Several high level retired military and policy officials have told LPAC that there will a catastrophic report from Iraq commanding general, David Petraeus, about the state of conflict in Iraq, when he is scheduled to report back to the President on the "surge" policy that George W. Bush foisted on him--against the advice of the outgoing Iraq generals--in his January 10, 2007 speech. In that January speech, Bush rejected the bi-partisan Baker-Hamilton Commission recommendations to seek a peace settlement in Iraq, by engaging Iran and Syria.

The failure of the "surge" is more evident every day--with 100 American soldiers dying in Iraq in the last month. Veteran reporter Martin Sieff wrote in the Post Chronicle of May 24 that May, 2007 has one of the highest daily rates of U.S. soldier deaths. Sieff writes, "In all, 82 U.S. soldiers were killed in the 23-day period from May 1 through May 23 -- an average rate of just over 3.5 per day." But on some days the number of dead Americans has been staggering: 9, 7, and 6 soldiers in one day.

This is the backdrop to the Congressional capitulation to the White House, in removing the timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Iraq supplemental appropriations bill. On May 23, Lyndon LaRouche denounced this capitulation in one of his most forceful statements to date, can demanded that the Democratic Party leadership in the U.S. Congress immediately launch impeachment proceedings against Vice President Dick Cheney.

Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), a 29-year Marine veteran, who opposes the Bush surge also agrees that Gen. Petraeus will report a disaster to Bush--and then to Congress. In a May 24 statement, Murtha said about the Iraq supplemental bill that passed the House, "Patience has run out and I feel a change in direction happening within the chambers of Congress. While we don't have the votes right now to change the president's policy, I believe that come September we will have the votes from both Democrats and Republicans to change policy and direction. In September, General Petraeus will report back on the progress of the surge, and Congress will take up both the $460 billion base defense appropriations bill and the $141 billion Iraq supplemental. The surge is not producing the results that were promised... We have lost 418 of our fellow Americans since the president announced his surge, and come September, with your help, we can convince my colleagues from across the aisle that enough is enough. For almost two years, I have tried diligently to re-deploys our forces from Iraq, and I will not stop now."