Fallon: Surge may be Iraq’s last chance

Above: Soldiers conducting night sweeps of Sadr City last month. Left: Adm. William Fallon before his Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing to become commander of the U. S. Central Command, making him also the top commander over Iraq.

The Bush administration’s ongoing surge of forces aimed at stabilizing Iraq may be that nation’s last chance to become viable and independent, the new chief of U.S. Central Command told Congress Wednesday.

“We have been at this for four years now,” said Adm. William Fallon during his command’s fiscal 2008 budget hearing before the House Armed Services Committee. “We have seen various ebbs and flows of security, but generally have generally not seen the consistent progress that we think we need to see to make this entity called Iraq the kind of functional, representative government that we would desire.

“It’s very clear to me that we have in play right now a significantly different approach to this,” said Fallon, who took up the command’s reins March 16, referring to the surge of nearly 30,000 troops that began in January and is expected to be fully in place by early June. “But that given the many factors that are at play, this is really the Iraqi leadership’s major and potential last opportunity to really take this ball forward.”

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