Iraq politics: Yesterday's testimony
Posted: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 9:22 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Congress, Security
The New York Times: “Telling Congress that progress in Iraq was ‘fragile and reversible,’ the top American commander recommended Tuesday that consideration of any new withdrawals of American troops be delayed until the fall, making it likely that little would change before Election Day.” More: “The hearings lacked the suspense of last September’s debate, when the focus was on measurable benchmarks and heightened expectations of speedy troop withdrawals. But they thrust the war to the center of the presidential campaign, as General Petraeus faced questioning from the two Democrats and one Republican still vying for the White House. He told them that progress in Iraq had been ‘significant and uneven.’”
The Washington Post: "Asked repeatedly yesterday what ‘conditions’ he is looking for to begin substantial U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq after this summer's scheduled drawdown … Petraeus said he will know them when he sees them. For frustrated lawmakers, it was not enough."
More: "What worked in September -- an overall sense of progress that gave the Bush administration additional time to pursue its "surge" policy of sending nearly 30,000 more troops to Iraq -- sparked little enthusiasm this time among lawmakers who had hoped for a brighter light at the end of the tunnel. Much of their frustration appeared to stem from a realization that there was little they could do to affect policy in the administration's final nine months."
"All three major presidential candidates - Republican John McCain and Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama - displayed their contrasting views and styles in questioning General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker," the Boston Globe writes.
The LA Times: "The back-to-back hearings gave the candidates an opportunity to showcase their competing claims to be best equipped to be commander-in-chief. But the questioning -- mostly low-key and respectful -- was singularly lacking in fireworks."
NBC’s Alex Lebowitz reports on the scene at the Foreign Relations Committee yesterday: Senators, police protection, media, and about 120 public citizens were packed into a crowded room in the Hart Senate Office Building. The public hearing had an eclectic mix of pro- and anti-war signs -- but mostly anti-war outbursts. Some of the signs included:
-- "Thank you America for liberating Iraq. We will never forget. Assyrians of Iraq.”
-- "Arrest Bush"
-- "Give victory a chance"
-- "This is not a war we can win, it is a war crime we committed."
The biggest draw for both supporters of the war and protesters, Lebowitz adds, was Obama’s questioning of Petraeus and Crocker. The evidence? At the conclusion of Obama's questioning, well over half of the public audience left the hearing.
