Obama Backs 'Messy, Sloppy Status Quo' as the Goal in Iraq

WASHINGTON — For the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Obama, a "messy, sloppy status quo" is the Iraq war tagline of the moment.

That was the message from Mr. Obama's colloquy yesterday with General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where Mr. Obama warned the top American general in Iraq and the American ambassador there against setting the bar for success too high.

"If, on the other hand, our criteria is a messy, sloppy status quo, there's not, you know, huge outbreaks of violence; there's still corruption, but the country's struggling along, but it's not a threat to its neighbors and it's not an Al Qaeda base — that seems, to me, an achievable goal within a measurable time frame," the senator said. Mr. Obama acknowledged security progress in Iraq, something Senator Clinton declined to do last September when she questioned General Petraeus and said his optimistic assessment of security in Iraq required "the willing suspension of disbelief." This time around, Mrs. Clinton was respectful but stern. She thanked the general and the ambassador for their service, but went on to say that she disagreed with those who said it was irresponsible to support a withdrawal from Iraq.

"Rather, I think it could be fair to say that it might well be irresponsible to continue the policy that has not produced the results that have been promised time and time again at such tremendous cost to our national security and to the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States military," she said.

Mr. Obama, who has touted his position opposing the war as a state senator in Illinois, said he did not favor a "precipitous withdrawal." Instead, he began to flesh out benchmarks for Iraq for when the troops should leave.

This is a change in tone and emphasis if not substance for the senator who has pledged to withdraw all combat troops from Iraq within the first 16 months of taking office. A senior foreign policy adviser for the Obama campaign told The New York Sun, "Barack Obama today tried to fundamentally move this debate forward by focusing on the key question a commander in chief must answer for the American people, that is, what are we trying to achieve in Iraq. His strategy to remove our combat brigades from Iraq in 16 months is focused on meeting the achievable goals that he pressed General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker on."

General Petraeus warned in his testimony, "the military surge has achieved progress, but that the progress is reversible." He recommended that the military move forward with the withdrawal of the equivalent of five brigades from the Iraq theater by July. He suggested a 45 day period after that to re-evaluate the coalition's force posture in Iraq before deciding on further withdrawal.

Several Democrats criticized this recommendation, preferring instead to set forth a clear timetable for when troops would leave. Senator Levin, a Democrat of Michigan, tried to pin the general down on when a decision could be made on such timetables. But the general said he could not say.

Mr. Crocker told Congress that America would likely disavow "permanent bases" in Iraq, a disavowal that will be made formal in a status-of-forces agreement between Baghdad and Washington he anticipated would be finished in the summer. Mr. Crocker also said that the White House would not submit the agreement to the Senate for ratification.

Mrs. Clinton said, "It seems odd, I think, to Americans who are being asked to commit for an indefinite period of time the lives of our young men and women in uniform, the civilian employees, whom you rightly referenced and thanked, as well as billions of dollars of additional taxpayer dollars, if the Iraqi parliament may have a chance to consider this agreement, that the United States Congress would not."

Senator McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president from Arizona, used his questions yesterday to get specific answers on the battle for Basra launched last month. He asked about reports that as many as 1,000 men either deserted or defected. General Petraeus said in response that some of the soldiers had been relatively new, and that the battle drove home " the difficulty of local police operating in areas where there is serious intimidation of themselves and of their families."

Mr. Crocker also said at the hearing that Prime Minister Maliki had increased his popularity with Iraqis as a result of his decision to take on the gangs associated with Moqtada al Sadr.