General: Not time to leave Iraq

WASHINGTON -- After a long day of questions -- and speeches masquerading as questions -- the final hour of a Senate hearing featuring the Iraq war commander produced a revealing moment.

With TV cameras trained on Gen. David Petraeus in a packed room on Capitol Hill, Sen. George Voinovich, Republican from Ohio, noted the enormous expense of a war that has lasted more than five years, taken more than 4,000 American lives and cost hundreds of billions of dollars.

"The American people have had it up to here," Voinovich declared. "We're stressed out" from a conflict that seems to have no end in sight.

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Petraeus, who has spent more time in Iraq than any other general, didn't argue.

"I certainly share the frustration," he said.

And yet, the bottom line of Petraeus' message Tuesday at back-to-back Senate hearings was it's still too early to promise further withdrawals of U.S. troops because Iraq remains in danger of returning to chaos.

He painted a picture of a nation struggling to suppress violence among its own people and to move toward the political reconciliation President Bush said a year ago was the ultimate aim of his revised Iraq strategy, which included sending more than 20,000 extra combat troops.

Security is getting better, and Iraq's own forces are becoming more able, Petraeus said. But he also ticked off a list of reasons for worry, including the threat of a resurgence of Sunni or Shiite extremist violence. He highlighted Iran as a special concern, for its training and equipping of extremists.

Petraeus was told by a parade of Democrats that, after five years of war, it was past time to turn over much more of the war burden to the Iraqis. Those senators said Iraq will not attain stability until the U.S. decides to begin withdrawing in large numbers and forces the Iraqis to settle their differences.

But when it came to promising or predicting a timetable for further withdrawals, Petraeus didn't budge. He said he had recommended to Bush he complete, by the end of July, the withdrawal of the 20,000 extra troops. Beyond that, the general proposed a 45-day period of "consolidation and evaluation," to be followed by an indefinite period of assessment before he would recommend any further pullouts.

The Petraeus plan, which Bush is expected to embrace, reflects a conservative approach that leaves open the possibility that roughly 140,000 U.S. troops could remain in Iraq when the president leaves office next year.

On Thursday Bush will make a speech about the war, now in its sixth year, and his decision about troop levels.

In exchanges with several senators, Petraeus refused to say when he thought it would be safe to resume troop reductions beyond July without risking "fragile and reversible" security gains.

Asked Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee: "Could that be a month, could that be two months?"

Petraeus began to respond: "Sir, it could be less than that. It could be. ..."

Levin: "Could it be more than that?"

Petraeus: "It could be more than that. Again, it's when the conditions are met that we can make a recommendation for further reductions."

Levin: "Could it be three months?"

Petraeus: "Sir, again, at the end of the period of consolidation and evaluation. ..."