Zinni supports the more troops in Iraq lobby

NY Times:

No military expert was more forthright in opposing the Iraq war than Anthony C. Zinni.

General Zinni, a retired marine who once served as the top American military officer in the Middle East, contended that the threat posed by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was vastly overstated and that invading Iraq would be a burdensome distraction from the struggle against Al Qaeda.

These days General Zinni is delivering another provocative message: that leaving Iraq quickly would strengthen Iranian influence throughout the Middle East, create a sanctuary for terrorist groups, encourage even more sectarian strife in Iraq and risk turmoil in an oil-rich region.

“This is not Vietnam or Somalia or those places where you can walk away,” General Zinni said in a recent interview. (He served in both countries.) “If we just pull out, we will find ourselves back in short order.”

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General Zinni noted that his position was similar to that of Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, a staunch supporter of the decision to invade. “I do believe more troops are required on the ground,” the general said. “I believe what Senator McCain says.”

The Iraq debate roiling Washington cuts across partisan divides and has led to some odd bedfellows. For example, the troop reduction and pullback options suggested by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in a memo written just before he resigned reflect some convergence between him and Democratic lawmakers who have criticized the war.

But for all the twists and turns, there is an underlying logic to the policy alignments.

Even before the Iraq war, Mr. Rumsfeld opposed sending large numbers of troops to Iraq, arguing that a large and lengthy presence would put the United States in the position of doing things that the Iraqis should be doing for themselves. He outlined his view shortly before the war in a speech in New York called “Beyond Nation Building,” and it was reflected in his criticism of Gen. Eric Shinseki, the Army chief of staff at the time, who cautioned that hundreds of thousands of troops would be needed in postwar Iraq.

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There is more. One of the ironies mentioned in the article is John Kerry taking credit for Rumsfeld's policy suggestions in his recent memo. That is an irony on top of an irony. Zinni makes a good case for additional troops and an even stronger case for not redeploying out of Iraq. Redeployment would be a fundamental mistake, but it is one that many Democrats are intent on making.