Retired Generals Criticize Iraq Policy, Worry Over Iran

Published in North Country Times on October 12, 2007

A pair of retired generals told dozens of Rancho Bernardo residents Thursday that President Bush's troop surge strategy in Iraq was failing and that they're afraid the president may be goaded into a "disastrous" new war against neighboring Iran.

Retired Marine Corps four-star Gen. Joseph Hoar and retired Army Lt. Gen. Robert Gard told a rapt gathering of the North County World Affairs Council in a two-hour discussion Thursday that neo-conservative groups are pushing to persuade Bush to fight Iran. The council is a nonprofit organization that provides educational programs and activities focusing on international relations, economics, politics and foreign cultures. "There have been reports of certain elements in the White House urging Bush to attack before he leaves office," Gard said, "because his successor will not have the fortitude ... and the supreme confidence in his own instincts to take care of Iran. Joe and I happen to be among the people who believe that will be a disaster for this country."

The generals, both longtime critics of the Bush administration and the Iraq war, were ending two days of speaking engagements in North County sponsored by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group, the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

Hoar was the Marines' commander in chief of Central Command from 1991 to 1994. Gard fought in the Vietnam and Korean wars. Neither was on active duty when the war in Iraq began.

The center's spokesman, Travis Sharp, said the 27-year-old group's outreach campaign pays retired officers across the United States to speak to communities about national security issues. Gard is a member of the center's board. Sharp said Hoar was scheduled to join the group's advisory board in the next few months.

Hoar told the audience of more than 60 people Thursday that polls conducted by American and British news companies showed that the Bush administration's "troop surge" policy -- which was announced in January and has boosted U.S. forces in Iraq by 30,000 to 170,000 -- was not working.

Earlier this month, The Associated Press reported that the numbers of American troops, Iraqi civilians, police and military personnel killed in the war had fallen to their lowest levels in a year.

And Bush's top two military and political advisers on Iraq, Army Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, suggested last month that the troop surge had made Iraq more secure than before, in testimony before Congress.

Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said the buildup had disrupted militia extremists, dealt significant blows to al-Qaida in Iraq and would allow limited troop pullouts by next summer. Petraeus, however, added that security improvements in Iraq were uneven across the country.

Hoar said American forces would do better if they decreased the number of troops in Iraq, but left enough of them to train the Iraqi army, and to protect them from insurgent attacks until they could fend for themselves. He also said neighboring Arab countries, including Iran and Syria, should be included in regional discussions about Iraq.

However, both Hoar and Gard said they were now afraid that instead of including Iran in talks, the Bush administration could be pointed toward attacking Iran.

A week ago, Bush, in an hourlong interview on Al-Arabiya television, denied the U.S. is preparing to attack Iran at the end of January or February and reiterated his pledge to negotiate with Iran if it gives up its nuclear program.

But Gard said neo-conservative groups were raising money to push Bush to attack.

"You will undoubtedly see ads in local press all over the country urging that this administration attack Iran," he said.

Gard said the Bush administration regarded negotiating with countries the U.S. does not get along with ---- such as Iran ---- as "somehow rewarding bad behavior."

"What's the point of diplomacy?" Gard asked. "It is to deal with another nation with which you have disagreements, in the hope you can find a resolution that is advantageous to both sides."

Hoar said the United States could negotiate with Iran.

"Six years ago, nobody thought it was possible to deal with North Korea, and look at the progress that has been made there," he said.

Contact staff writer Gig Conaughton at (760) 739-6696 or gconaughton@nctimes.com.