Gen. Lynch says Sen Warner mistaken on troop levels

AP/San Diego Union-Tribune:

The U.S. military commander in one of the more troubled areas of Iraq said Friday that embracing Sen. John Warner's call to begin troop withdrawals before the end of the year would be "a giant step backward."

Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of troops south of Baghdad, said that in such a scenario, militants pushed from his sector in recent operations would quickly return.

"If coalition soldiers were to leave, having fought hard for that terrain, having denied the enemy their sanctuaries, what'd happen is the enemy would come back," said Lynch.

"He'd start building the bombs again, he'd start attacking the locals again and he'd start exporting that violence into Baghdad and we would take a giant step backward," Lynch told Pentagon reporters in a video conference from Iraq.

He said that recent gains resulted from the buildup of troops in Iraq and that he needs all the forces he has until Iraqis are able to step up and take over, perhaps some time next year.

Lynch was asked to respond to comments by Warner that President Bush should announce at least a small reduction in forces by Christmas.

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Warner has spent way too much time listening to Sen. Levin and not enough time listening to the people who know something about the situation in Iraq. I predict that the President will take his counsel from Gen. Lynch and Gen. Petraeus and not Sen. Warner.

The LA Times does report that Gen. Pace will recommend a draw down in 2008, but that has been in the works since the beginning of the surge. In fact the Democrats have tried to make it a cut off date in April 2008. I am sure that the joint chiefs will listen to their combat commanders before making any formal recommendations.