In the long parade of US senators questioning General David Petraeus on Capitol Hill yesterday, there were three who were not like the others.
Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama are running for president. One of them will almost certainly sit in the Oval Office next January as commander in chief. Patraeus’s commander. That gives [...]

For two days this week on Capitol Hill, America’s top general and top diplomat in Iraq are briefing Congress on the state of the Iraq War. They sat down first this morning before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker face supporters and critics on the Hill. The US troops surge [...]

Later this week, the President will address the nation with his onward vision for the U.S. military in Iraq. With a hard war in its fifth year, benchmarks unmet, and polls showing American disillusionment, it will not be an easy sell.
But the way is being paved before Congress this week in the testimony of General [...]

The stated goal of the U.S. troop “surge” in Iraq was to create breathing room for political reconciliation in Baghdad. That has not happened.
But reporting to Congress this week, General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are pushing for patience — a pullback, next year, of the surge, but an open-ended U.S. military commitment in [...]