Joint Chiefs Nominee Mullen Heads To Congress

Tuesday, July 31st 2007, 7:30 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The White House decision in January to pour as many as 30,000 more U.S. forces into Iraq followed rigorous debate involving President Bush, according to his nominee to head the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

That nominee, Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, said he and other Joint Chiefs met with the president and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to discuss the plan.

The plan for what Bush has called the ``surge'' of troops was likely to come up Tuesday during Mullen's scheduled confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

In written answers to prepared questions, Mullen told the committee, ``We had rigorous and thorough discussions and debates'' of the troop buildup plan. ``The president then made his decision, and I am in support of that decision and working to make it succeed.''

Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, are to report to Congress in September on conditions related to the war strategy. Already, however, lawmakers from both parties have expressed impatience with progress in Iraq.

Mullen acknowledged slow progress in Iraq is hurting U.S. credibility and emboldening Iran's regional ambitions. While there's been steady progress on the military front, there's been only limited headway in achieving reconciliation among Iraq's political factions, according to Mullen.

He said it's important to see results more than four years into the war. Some 160,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq, and more than 3,640 Americans have been killed.

``A protracted deployment of U.S. troops to Iraq, with no change in the security situation, risks further emboldening Iranian hegemonic ambitions and encourages their continued support to Shia insurgents in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan,'' Mullen wrote.

Mullen, the chief of naval operations, was chosen to replace Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace as the nation's top military officer. Gates decided not to reappoint Pace for a second two-year term to avoid an acrimonious confirmation hearing over how the Bush administration has handled the war in Iraq.

Pace, who was vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs before being appointed chairman, was involved in all the key decisions leading to the March 2003 invasion of Iraq and the planning for the post-Saddam Hussein era. His term ends Oct. 1.

The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to vote on his nomination before Congress adjourns Friday for its August recess.

Mullen's answers reflect the separation Gates wants to achieve. In one of the pre-hearing questions, Mullen is asked by the committee what he considers to be ``the most significant mistakes the United States has made to date in Iraq.''

He lists seven mistakes, including the May 2003 decision to disband the Iraqi army, which he says was a ``potentially valuable asset for security, reconstruction, and provision of services to the Iraqi people.''

Turning the troops loose, Mullen says, provided ``a recruiting pool for extremist groups.''