Petraeus' Secret Briefing, and Growing Rumors of GOP Unrest Over Iraq

By Scott Horton

On NBC's Chris Matthews show on Sunday, Andrea Mitchell unloaded some bombshells. She announced that General Petraeus, the new American commander in Baghdad, had delivered a secret briefing to Republican Congressional leaders in which he had been extremely measured in his assessment of the prospects of operations to restore order in Baghdad and other key locations in Iraq. Don't expect positive news before August, he was quoted as saying.

MITCHELL: I think the Republicans are going to crack. What I've been told from inside the moderate center of the Republican caucus is that the vote in favor of the president this week — it was against the president but the Republicans holding for the president — was misleading. That they really are not in favor of the surge. They don't believe it's going to work. But they basically said the president has until August, until Labor Day. After that, if it doesn't work, they're running.

. . .

MITCHELL: They'll stick until September and then they'll leave. I believe very firmly that they're against what he is doing but they feel that General Petraeus has persuaded them that for all intents and purposes, they can't vote a withdrawal before September.

. . .

MITCHELL: Petraeus went to the Republican caucus and told them, I will have real progress to you by August. They told him, if — we'll stick with you—

I've been looking to see if anyone from the Pentagon or White House would contradict Mitchell, but it appears not. Her remarks are extremely significant on two counts. First, it is extraordinary for a military leader—especially a field commander in the midst of war conditions—to deliver a briefing to a partisan political grouping like a congressional caucus. Briefings would be delivered with relative frequency to significant decision makers within the administration and to congressional oversight bodies. Additionally, congressional delegations visiting the theater would also generally receive a briefing at some point. But for a special briefing to be delivered to the Republican caucus—i.e., to the minority in Congress—but not to Congressional committees or leadership is amazing. If true, it would suggest an impermissible politicization of command authority. The point is particularly important considering the sensitivity of the information delivered.

Second, Mitchell's analysis suggests a real timeline for operations in Iraq. Minority leader John Boehner had previously been clear that no "blank check" was being delivered for the new deployment. If there was no sign of results in 60-90 days, Boehner stated, the deployment would have to be revisited. These remarks explain both the need for the briefing and the plea for a longer time frame.

Obviously, Bush's opposition to the Democrats' phased withdrawal plans seems increasingly awkward against this background.