GOP Rep.: Ousted Republican congressional majority has secret 'Plan B' for Iraq

David Edwards and Josh Catone

Published: Monday April 9, 2007 Print This Email This

Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, told "Hardball" fill-in host David Gregory that if the 'surge' has not yielded success in Iraq by August 2008, then "this president, and the Republican majority from the last Congress, we do have a 'Plan B,' but we're not going to give it to the enemy."

Gregory did not push him to shed light on the back up plan, but Gingrey conceded that "adjustments" would need to be made if victory had not be achieved in Iraq by August 2008.

Gingrey's comments are reminiscent of an oft-mentioned contention that any timelines regarding troop withdrawal from Iraq should be kept secret.

Recently, Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) said that he would have supported the Democrat's Iraq spending bill only if the timeline dates had been secret. Pryor voted with Republicans on the bill. Last week, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told ABCs Good Morning America that he would only support deadlines for troop withdrawal if they were kept unpublished.

It is unclear if Gingrey's comments were a reference to "secret" milestones or troop draw down dates.

In March, General Peter Pace, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reportedly denied the existence of any back up plan saying, "Plan B [is] to make Plan A work."

The following video clip is from MSNBC's "Hardball" television program:

Correction: A previous version of this article mistakenly labeled Sen. Mark Pryor as a Republican.



