Maine's
Bill Cohen attends Iraq Summit No shrinking violets around the table
By Elizabeth Prata
Washington DC-- President Bush assembled a summit
of former Secretaries of State and Defense Department
Chiefs last Thursday. Included among them was former
Maine Senator and former Secretary of Defense under
President Bill Clinton William S. Cohen.
The forty-five minute meeting was held at the White
House, and the topic was the President's plan for
victory in Iraq and to solicit advice from the bipartisan
officials he had invited.
The meeting began with an overview presentation by
the President's national security team and then comments
were solicited. The President remarked that, "We're
making darn good progress," and said that about
220,000 Iraqi soldiers and police now are engaged
in the battle against the insurgents in Iraq, as well
as more than 150,000 U.S. and coalition troops.
Bush said he was pleased to listen to the concerns
of the former senior officials and acknowledged that
not all of the former officials agreed with his decision
to deploy the U.S. military into Iraq in 2003 to depose
former dictator Saddam Hussein.
In a Monument Newspaper interview with Mr. Cohen,
the former Secretary said the same. "None of
those in attendance could be accused of being shrinking
violets and most expressed their concerns, attempting
to avoid duplicating the remarks of others."
Mr. Cohen continued, "I was one of the thirteen
former cabinet officials who had been invited to meet
with President Bush to discuss the situation in Iraq.
Since the meeting was scheduled to last approximately
forty-five minutes, none of those attending the meeting
expected to have an opportunity to engage in an in
depth discussion of the challenges we are faced with
there. As anticipated, the President's national security
team presented an over view of the military and political
status in Iraq and invited comments or suggestions."
There was consensus with the President in the position
the that key to success in Iraq is predicated on how
quickly Iraq's new government and its security forces
can take the lead in fighting and defeating the terrorists.
Mr. Cohen said, "While not all agreed with the
wisdom of going to war in Iraq, no one in the room
suggested that we bring our forces home immediately
or pursuant to a fixed deadline. All expressed support
for the need to achieve success by remaining long
enough to train Iraqi forces to take on the responsibility
for their own security and are hoping that can be
achieved in the reasonably near future."
With the violence in Iraq heating up this week, the
last few days have been especially fatal for Iraqis
and Americans. In the last week, at least 183 Iraqis
have been killed, 148 of those civilians and 35 of
those security forces. Also, 28 Americans have been
killed, including 24 troops. On Tuesday, an extremist
website scorned Sunnis for participating in the elections
and thus of siding with the "enemy crusader."
Mr. Cohen has had concerns about the Sunnis, and said
that he told the President, "I have been concerned
about the recent reports that the Sunnis, while they
appear to be more involved in the political process,
were being marginalized in the military. If this is
the case, then the Sunnis are likely to see the military
as an instrument of oppression and will intensify
their opposition by supporting the insurgency. This,
of course, would be adverse to our interests."
Mr. Cohen said that the President assured the summit
participants that the reports Mr. Cohen had referred
to were without merit.
"I had other comments that I made to the President,
expressing the need for his administration to reach
out to others and listen to the concerns and views
of those beyond his inner circle of advisors,"
Mr. Cohen said. Will the president do that? "I
believe that most of the former officials felt that
the President would be well advised to convene similar
meetings in the future, although I remain doubtful
that we will see any such sessions soon," Mr.
Cohen said.
