Bill Nelson: “in November, General Abizaid told our Senate Committee on Armed Services, when asked did he need any more troops in…”

“in November, General Abizaid told our Senate Committee on Armed Services, when asked did he need any more troops in Iraq, he said ``no.'' Admiral Fallon, who has been chosen by the administration to succeed General Abizaid, when asked did he think by the Senate taking a position in opposition to the President's determination to put 21,000 new troops in Iraq that was undercutting the military forces in Iraq, Admiral Fallon deferred and would not answer that, as some others had been quick to answer in the affirmative. When General Casey was in front of our committee last week, when asked how many additional troops do you think should be put into Baghdad, he said two brigades--not the five brigades the President has determined. What we have is a majority of Members in this Senate feel there should not be any increase. We have General Casey, the commander for the last 2 rac{1}{2} years, saying there should only be a two-brigade increase. So there is, in fact, conflicting opinion. If we are going to have any increase in troops in Iraq, the Marine generals in Anbar Province have convinced this Senator that an increase in Anbar Province would be helpful, but the conclusion of this Senator was that putting more American troops in the middle of Baghdad, in the middle of that sectarian violence, was not going to do any good; it was going to put more Americans in harm's way, particularly in the limited numbers the President is talking about.”