A top American commander in Iraq on Wednesday denounced calls by some U.S. senators and others to set a deadline for a troop withdrawal, calling it "a recipe for disaster" for the 2 1/2 -year-old war.
"Setting a date would mean that the 221 soldiers I've lost this year, that their lives will have been lost in vain," said Army Maj. Gen. William Webster, whose 3rd Infantry Division is responsible for security in three-fourths of Iraq's capital. Making up the bulk of Task Force Baghdad, the 3rd Infantry patrols some of the most dangerous turf in Iraq, encountering massive bombs and suicide assaults in attacks that Webster said average 35 a day in the city.
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday defeated by a 58 to 40 vote a Democratic proposal that would have required U.S. leaders to fix a rough date for pulling out the more than 140,000 American service members in Iraq.
General Decries Call For Timetable in Iraq
Bookmarks