WASHINGTON (AP) The Bush administration's June 30 deadline for turning over sovereignty of Iraq to its people may need to be extended, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Sunday.
The security situation in some cities is in shambles and Iraqi police forces are not prepared to take over, said Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind.
Asked whether the transfer of power is coming too soon, Lugar said, ''It may be, and I think it's probably time to have that debate.''
Lugar said there are still far too many questions about what will happen after June 30.
He said the administration has shared no plans with his committee regarding an ambassador, who the 3,000 embassy staff will be, and how they will be kept safe.
''This is a huge new exposure of Americans,'' Lugar told ABC's ''This Week.''
He added, ''At this point, I would have thought there would have been a more comprehensive plan.''
Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden, the top Democrat on the committee, echoed Lugar's concerns about the administration's post-occupation plans.
Biden told ''Fox News Sunday'' that training Iraqi forces will take years, not months.
''We're going to end up with a civil war in Iraq if in fact we decide we can turn this over, including the bulk of the security, to the Iraqis between now and then,'' he said.
Iraq has seen some of its worst violence in the past month.
Last Wednesday, jubilant crowds dragged the burned, mutilated bodies of four American contractors through the streets of Fallujah. On Sunday, the U.S. military death toll in Iraq rose to 600, with the report that two Marines had died in separate incidents in Anbar province.
The administration has been under pressure from its Iraqi partners and international allies to transfer power to the Iraqis and end the military occupation as soon as possible.
The administration also wants to have a functioning, sovereign Iraqi government in place to counter Democratic criticism of its Iraq policy during the campaign for the White House.
Boston Globe.
The security situation in some cities is in shambles and Iraqi police forces are not prepared to take over, said Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind.
Asked whether the transfer of power is coming too soon, Lugar said, ''It may be, and I think it's probably time to have that debate.''
Lugar said there are still far too many questions about what will happen after June 30.
He said the administration has shared no plans with his committee regarding an ambassador, who the 3,000 embassy staff will be, and how they will be kept safe.
''This is a huge new exposure of Americans,'' Lugar told ABC's ''This Week.''
He added, ''At this point, I would have thought there would have been a more comprehensive plan.''
Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden, the top Democrat on the committee, echoed Lugar's concerns about the administration's post-occupation plans.
Biden told ''Fox News Sunday'' that training Iraqi forces will take years, not months.
''We're going to end up with a civil war in Iraq if in fact we decide we can turn this over, including the bulk of the security, to the Iraqis between now and then,'' he said.
Iraq has seen some of its worst violence in the past month.
Last Wednesday, jubilant crowds dragged the burned, mutilated bodies of four American contractors through the streets of Fallujah. On Sunday, the U.S. military death toll in Iraq rose to 600, with the report that two Marines had died in separate incidents in Anbar province.
The administration has been under pressure from its Iraqi partners and international allies to transfer power to the Iraqis and end the military occupation as soon as possible.
The administration also wants to have a functioning, sovereign Iraqi government in place to counter Democratic criticism of its Iraq policy during the campaign for the White House.
Boston Globe.
