[Texgreen] (no subject)

[Roger Baker]

[I think that what Gates really means is that if we fail to protect =20
the Sunnis in Iraq, then the Saudis will cut off our oil. -- Roger]


<http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?=20
type=3DtopNews&storyid=3D2007-04-05T001722Z_01_N04372175_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-=
=20
IRAQ-GATES.xml>

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on =20
Wednesday warned that limiting troops' activities in Iraq and =20
withdrawing from Baghdad could lead to "ethnic cleansing" in the =20
capital and elsewhere in the country.

Gates' comment followed a proposal from Senate Majority Leader Harry =20
Reid to end most spending on the Iraq war in 2008, limiting it to =20
targeted operations against al Qaeda, training for Iraqi troops and =20
U.S. force protection.

"One real possibility is if we abandon some of these areas and =20
withdraw into the countryside or whatever to do these targeted =20
missions that you could have a fairly significant ethnic cleansing =20
inside Baghdad and in Iraq more broadly," Gates said.

"What we do know is if Baghdad is in flames and the whole city is =20
engulfed in violence, the prospects for a political solution are =20
almost nonexistent," he said on the Laura Ingraham syndicated radio =20
program.

The Pentagon has asked Congress for $100 billion in additional war =20
funds, and Gates has repeatedly warned that the U.S. Army must have =20
the money by April 15 or training and equipment repairs could be =20
impaired.

The Democrat-led Congress has tied those funds to a deadline for =20
withdrawing U.S. forces from the increasingly unpopular war, defying =20
a veto threat from President George W. Bush.

Reid, a Nevada Democrat, this week stepped up pressure on the Bush =20
administration by backing legislation to stop war funding by March =20
31, 2008, with the targeted exceptions.

Gates did not comment directly on the political debate on Capitol =20
Hill or Bush's veto threat.

=A9 Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.