Powell pushes for drawdown, says U.S. losing war in Iraq

By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday that the United States is losing what he said was a "civil war" in Iraq and that he is not persuaded an increase in U.S. troops there would reverse the situation. Instead, he called for a new strategy that would relinquish responsibility for Iraqi security to the government in Baghdad sooner rather than later, with a U.S. drawdown to begin by the middle of next year.

Powell's comments broke his long public silence on the issue and placed him at odds with the administration. President Bush is considering options for a new military strategy. They include a "surge" of 15,000 to 30,000 troops added to the current 140,000 in Iraq, to secure Baghdad and to accelerate the training of Iraqi forces, as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and others have proposed. Another option is to redirect the U.S. military away from the insurgency to focus mainly on hunting al-Qaida fighters, as the nation's top military leaders proposed last week in a meeting with the president.

But Bush has rejected the Iraq Study Group's conclusions and its recommendations to set parameters for a phased withdrawal to begin next year, and has insisted the violence in Iraq is not a civil war.

"I agree with the assessment of Mr. Baker and Mr. Hamilton," Powell said...

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