Maine delegates maintain stands on war after Petraeus report

PORTLAND – Gen. David Petraeus’ testimony on Iraq had little apparent impact on Maine’s congressional delegation Monday as Reps. Tom Allen and Michael Michaud remained firm in support of a U.S. troop withdrawal and Sen. Susan Collins stood by her call for a change in mission.

Sen. Olympia Snowe offered no immediate comment on the first day of the long-awaited testimony by Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Petraeus suggested to House committee members a partial troop withdrawal by next summer, which would leave the U.S with about 130,000 troops in Iraq.

Allen, Michaud and Collins agreed that gains by the military in improving security have not prodded the Iraqi government to undertake the political reforms that would bring about reconciliation among ethnic and sectarian groups.

Democrats Allen and Michaud said President Bush’s strategy of using additional troops to buy time for the Iraqis to make progress on the political front has fallen short and it is time to bring U.S. troops home.

“The Iraqi government expects us to be there for a long period of time, and only if we tell them that we’re setting a date to leave will it concentrate the minds of the Sunni and Shiite leadership toward compromising their differences,” Allen said in an interview.

Collins, who will be questioning Petraeus on Tuesday when he testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement that she disagrees with the general’s strategy.

“Keeping somewhere between 125,000 and 150,000 American troops in Iraq for at least another 10 months, performing the same mission, will result in more casualties and will not prompt the Iraqi government to enact political reforms needed to quell the sectarian violence,” the Republican senator said.

Collins, an opponent of the president’s troop surge, said she agreed with Petraeus that an abrupt withdrawal of U.S. troops would have “catastrophic consequences,” but that it would not be premature to shift the mission away from combat and toward border security, training of Iraqi forces and fighting terrorism.

Michaud, however, said an unconditional U.S. presence may be undermining stability and progress in Iraq.

“It is long past time for the Iraqis to stand up and take responsibility for their country and for our troops to transition out,” he said in a statement.

Snowe, a Republican, said through an aide that she was busy on Senate business Monday and was looking forward to listening to the Petraeus and Crocker testimony and discussing with her colleagues how to move ahead.

“The real question for her, which has not been addressed adequately, is what the strategy and mission should be in light of the failure of the Iraqi factions to make progress on the benchmarks necessary for the critical Iraqi national reconciliation, which, after all, was the original purpose of the surge,” said spokesman David Snepp.