Motionsickmag.com
General Aims to Ease Concerns About Iraq:Posted By: Tom Braswell By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer ISTANBUL, Turkey - In the troubled region surrounding Iraq, a frequent question posed to the top U.S. military officer visiting the area was not when his troops will pull out of Iraq, but how long they will stay.From the glittery King's palace in Saudi Arabia to the devastated slopes of the Pakistani mountainside and a staid Turkish symposium, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sought last week to ease concerns about whether opposition to the war at home could pressure American forces to leave Iraq before it is stable. "I think it's fair to say that in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, there is a clear desire for the U.S. to stay with it until the job is done — which, coincidentally, is how we look at it," Pace said Sunday as he left Istanbul for Washington. On his first diplomatic-oriented trip since last fall, Pace traveled to three countries whose leaders are worried about the U.S. commitment to the Iraq war and the global war on terror. Failure to secure Iraq could fuel insurgencies in their countries and instability in the region, where terrorism is a familiar threat. Their fears are stoked by the American public's growing impatience with a war that has claimed the lives of more than 2,300 U.S. troops, and the persistent calls from members of Congress for an exit strategy. "I told them that from the U.S. military's viewpoint, we would stay with the mission until we got the job done," Pace said in an interview with The Associated Press. Those interests also at times conflict with strong anti-American sentiment in these Muslim countries, including Pakistan where thousands protested the war during a recent visit by President Bush. Protesters were not evident during Pace's visit, but he often faced blunt questions about U.S. Middle East policies and progress in Iraq from both officials and the local media. Pace said the queries about Iraq posed in private meetings with military and governmental leaders were largely the same as those asked publicly at a counterterrorism summit in Pakistan on Friday or in media interviews. They wanted to know what the U.S. plans are for Iraq and Afghanistan, for dealing with Iran's nuclear program and for aiding the fight against guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq and Turkey. Turks worry that if the U.S. leaves Iraq too soon, the country could crumble and allow Kurdish rebels in the north to create an independent state along the Turkish border. The Turkish army has been fighting the PPK since 1984. The Saudis, meanwhile, are concerned that sectarian violence in Iraq will bleed into Saudi Arabia, and that a weakened Iraq will allow Iran to gain a foothold there, said Rachel Bronson, a Middle East specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations. In Pakistan, there are ongoing efforts to ferret out terrorists traveling back and forth across the mountainous Afghan border, where some believe Osama bin Laden may be hiding and directing his al-Qaida network. Pace also used the trip to call for greater cooperation and intelligence-sharing between nations in the war on terror. And, on a more personal level, he was able give leaders in all three countries some insight into his thinking as the new chairman. Pace met for about 90 minutes with Saudi's King Abdullah and had separate meetings with other royal family members; had lunch with Pakistan's top military leader and took a helicopter tour of the devastated earthquake region; met with Turkey Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and spent much of Saturday visiting cultural sites in Istanbul with Turkey's 1st Army commander, Gen. Ilker Basbug, and his wife. "These are three countries where it is easy to have misunderstandings just because of cultural differences ... language and interpretations of what is being said," Pace said. "So I was really pleased to have the opportunity to go face to face with my counterparts." Pace has made two other major trips as chairman, one to South Korea for a military change-of-command ceremony and one during the holidays to visit troops overseas, including in Iraq and Afghanistan. Courtesy Of: Yahoo! News The information reported above is property of Yahoo! inc. and reprinted or modified with legitimate permission. We thank Yahoo! inc. for the kind cooperation with us and other shareholders. |
|
Bookmark | Contact Us | Search
Copyright ©2005-2006 MAS Network