Pentagon and congressional auditor clash over progress in Iraq

Comments

 SEE THE LATEST ON THIS STORY

EMAIL STORY

PRINT STORY

109 days ago: Former Pentagon official, contractor indicted on conspiracy charges

» 398 days ago: Pentagon and congressional auditor clash over progress in Iraq «

440 days ago: U.S. does not plan military raids into Pakistan, says officer

482 days ago: Navy admirals taking helm at the Pentagon

517 days ago: Pentagon says employees lax on taxes

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The Pentagon Wednesday rebutted some of the failing grades a congressional auditor gave the war effort in Iraq. In the Pentagon’s first public response to a critical report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), spokesman Geoff Morrell said, “We think there has been a clear reduction in sectarian violence and we think that should have been noted by the GAO.”

Morrell told a press conference the best progress assessment will come next week, when top Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker will report to Congress. Their report “will be far more comprehensive and far more nuanced than any report to date, especially the GAO’s,” Morrell said.

Meanwhile, Comptroller General David Walker, who heads the GAO, made his second solo appearance before a congressional committee in as many days.

“It is unclear whether sectarian violence has decreased,” Walker told the House Armed Services Committee, rejecting commanders’ claims. “I know there’s strong difference of opinion between us and the military on that.”

The issue is crucial because tamping down Shiite-Sunni violence is one of the most important of 18 benchmarks set by Congress in the law that funded the Iraq war until the end of this month.

In 2006, sectarian violence plunged Iraq into something akin to a civil war, preventing political progress and prompting President Bush to change strategy with a surge of nearly 30,000 new troops last February.

As the debate to fund the war for another year heats up in the coming weeks, Democrats are sure to cite Walker’s statement, while pro-war Republicans will quote commanders in the field.

Walker said only the Baghdad command compiles statistics on the conflict between the Sunnis and Shiites. “We have not been able to get comfortable with the methodology that [the command] uses to determine sectarian violence,” he testified.

In all, Walker said, the Iraqi government has failed to meet 11 security and political benchmarks.

Morrell said Defense Secretary Robert Gates left a Monday meeting in Iraq with Bush and his commanders “more optimistic about our efforts there than at any time since taking office.”

rscarborough@dcexaminer.com

SEE THE LATEST ON THIS STORY

EMAIL STORY

PRINT STORY

109 days ago: Former Pentagon official, contractor indicted on conspiracy charges

» 398 days ago: Pentagon and congressional auditor clash over progress in Iraq «

440 days ago: U.S. does not plan military raids into Pakistan, says officer

482 days ago: Navy admirals taking helm at the Pentagon

517 days ago: Pentagon says employees lax on taxes