IRAQ'S AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES APPEALED TO CONGRESS ON TUESDAY FOR MORE TIME TO ALLOW A “SURGE” OF U.S. TROOPS TO SECURE HIS COUNTRY AND PREVENT CIVIL WAR. AMBASSADOR SAMIR SUMAIDAIE SAID U.S. LAWMAKERS, BY SEARCHING FOR AN EXIT STRATEGY TO END THE UNPOPULAR WAR, RISKED UNDOING THE GAINS ACHIEVED THROUGH THE DEPLOYMENT OF 30,000 ADDITIONAL U.S. TROOPS IN RECENT MONTHS. “I THINK SEPTEMBER, FRANKLY, IS TOO SOON TO SHOW ANYTHING MORE THAN AN INKLING OF ITS POTENTIAL,” SUMAIDAIE TOLD REPORTERS, REFERRING TO AN ANTICIPATED REVIEW DUE IN TWO MONTHS FROM U.S. COMMANDERS AND IRAQ. “THE TRAGEDY WOULD BE AFTER FOUR YEARS OF LEARNING AND MAKING MISTAKES, JUST AS WE ARE GETTING [CONTROL OF] THE SITUATION …, THAT THE RUG WOULD BE PULLED FROM UNDER THEIR FEET,” THE AMBASSADOR SAID. “I AM MAKING THIS ARGUMENT IN WASHINGTON.”
