White House downplays Lugar's Iraq comment

WASHINGTON, June 26 (UPI) -- The White House Tuesday shrugged off criticism of its Iraq surge strategy by a key GOP senator noted for his foreign policy expertise.

Comments Monday by Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., were not "a departure from what he had said in the past," spokesman Tony Snow said.

"We have known he has reservations about the policy for some time. ... But the one thing we agree with is you do not have a sort of an indefinite surge, which is one of the points he was trying to make."

Snow added that with all troops now in place for the surge to secure Baghdad and its environs from insurgents and terrorists, it's going to be a difficult summer in terms of violence, and "we hope the members of the House and Senate give the Baghdad strategy time to unfold."

Lugar, ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Monday he believed "the costs and risks of continuing down the current path (in Iraq) outweigh the potential benefits that might be achieved."

"Persisting indefinitely with the surge strategy will delay policy adjustments that have a better chance of protecting our vital interests over the long term," he said.

The surge strategy, which has seen an uptick in combat and U.S. casualties, calls for more U.S. forces partnering with Iraqi troops to pacify and hold the capital and surrounding areas to establish security and give Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki time to implement reforms to gain public support.

Snow said signs of success were already being seen but a hard fight was still ahead.

The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, Amy Gen. David Petraeus, is to provide an initial assessment of progress in the surge strategy in September. Many lawmakers are looking at the report as a make-or-break policy crossroads, a perception the White House wants to dampen.