US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker conceded during Senate hearings today that Afghanistan, and not Iraq, is the main front in the fight against al-Qaeda.
Evading a direct answer to a question from Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) as to whether the focus of the war against the terror network is in Iraq or Afghanistan, Crocker finally said, "I would ... pick al-Qaeda in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area."
Biden first discussed progress that has been made in Iraq and the potential for troop draw downs with Gen. David Petraeus, commander of coalition forces in Iraq. He then turned to Crocker and the following exchange occurred:
Biden: Mr. Ambassador, is al-Qaeda a greater threat to U.S. interests in Iraq, or in the Afghan-Pakistan border region?
Crocker: Mr. Chairman, al-Qaeda is a strategic threat to the United States wherever it is, in my judgment--
Biden: Where is most of it? If you could take it out, get a choice... [If] the Lord Almighty came down, sat in the middle of the table there and said, 'Mr. Ambassador, you can eliminate every al-Qaeda source in Afghanistan and Pakistan or every al-Qaeda personnel in Iraq,' which would you pick?
Crocker: Well, given the progress that has been made against al-Qaeda in Iraq, the significant decrease in its capabalities, the fact that it is solidly on the defensive and not in a position, as far as I can judge--
Biden: Which would you pick, Mr. Ambassador?
Crocker: I would therefore pick al-Qaeda in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area.
Biden: That would be a smart choice.
Biden had begun his time with a statement to Crocker tantamount to a scolding: "I would not presume that if the security agreement with Iraq goes beyond a status-of-forces agreement, that you need only inform the Congress. You need to do much more than inform the Congress, you need the permission of the Congress if you're going to bind the next president of the United States in anything you agree to."
