How will Gen. Petraeus' Iraq testimony be greeted in Washington?

Gen. David Petraeus returns to Washington D.C. this week to testify before House and Senate committees about the progress of the Iraq war. Republicans are expected to treat Petraeus like a returning hero, while Democrats are expected to offer skepticism. Will this week's testimony make any difference in the conduct of the war?

Ben likes: Gen. Petraeus' return

New York Sun

The next political drama over Iraq will occur next week, when the Commander, Multinational Force-Iraq, General Petraeus, testifies before Congress on progress at the front and is asked about the fight for Basra. That's where combat is wrapping up this week in the most significant engagement since the campaign for Anbar. It will be an opportunity for Americans to compare Senators Clinton and McCain, both of whom sit on the committee to which General Petraeus will testify, and Senator Obama, who can be counted on to point out that he was against the war all along.

She abandoned her relatively hawkish stand on Iraq — and some feel her honor — to pursue her campaign against Senator Obama. This may be her last chance to gain credibility with the rest of the country in respect of the war. Senator McCain will be there to keep everyone honest and to help steer the hearing toward an understanding of the broad progress that has been made in this great struggle and the importance of sticking with it through to victory.

Joel likes: Grilling Petraeus

David Corn/Mother Jones

In recent weeks, the purported success of the surge strategy has been called into question, due to the rise of sectarian fighting with the Mahdi militia of Moqtada al-Sadr (an army also known as JAM) clashing with the Iraqi military. Before those battles occurred, Petraeus himself noted that the overall decline in violence (which in late 2007 dipped to 2005 levels) had not been accompanied by success on the political front: "No one feels that there has been sufficient progress by any means in the area of national reconciliation." And on Tuesday, senior Army and Marines Corps leaders told Congress that the surge of troops in Iraq has placed unsustainable stress on the U.S. military and rendered it less able to handle other conflicts. Yet Petraeus is not expected to provide Congress with testimony that will inconvenience the Bush administration or undermine its arguments for staying the course in Iraq. And there's no telling if members of Congress—including Democrats—will give Petraeus a more thorough grilling than he received in September, given that most members of Congress appear to have concluded that the House and the Senate cannot do much to slow or reverse Bush's war in Iraq.

Sen. Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the military push didn't succeed because U.S. troops remain committed there in large numbers and political reconciliation has not been achieved.

"The purpose of the surge was to bring violence in Iraq down so that its leaders could come together politically," said Biden, D-Del., in this week's Democratic radio address. "Violence has come down, but the Iraqis have not come together."

He later added, "There is little evidence the Iraqis will settle their differences peacefully any time soon."

Biden offered an early rebuttal to next week's testimony by Gen. David Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador there. Petraeus and Crocker are expected to say the recent buildup in troops has succeeded in improving security. But they also likely will say that a period of assessment is needed this summer before officials can decide whether troop withdrawals can continue.

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