Petraeus, Crocker to face scrutiny on war

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Capitol Hill Democrats say they will question Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker this week about how the 5-year-old Iraq war has sapped U.S. military readiness, imperiled positive results from the Afghanistan conflict and alienated the United States from the rest of the world.

They also will push for a rapid pullout while posing questions about what they see as the ever-present threat of renewed fighting in Iraq, the lack of political reform by the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the oil-rich country's failure to pay for the war or reconstruction.

"We are right back to where we started before the surge," said Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., Delaware Democrat and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, which hears testimony tomorrow from Gen. Petraeus and Mr. Crocker.

They also testify tomorrow before the Senate Armed Services Committee and then Wednesday before House committees, fulfilling a mandate by the Democrat-led Congress for a follow-up to the war report they delivered in September.

Gen. Petraeus is expected to call for halting troop reductions that began in December for about six months to assess the security situation. That would keep about 140,000 troops in Iraq — 10,000 more than before the surge of troops last year that helped stifle insurgent and sectarian attacks.

Both Gen. Petraeus and Mr. Crocker are expected to highlight political and military gains, as well as persistent challenges to the mission, including Iranian influence in the country.

Although Iran helped broker a deal to stem the fighting that has spilled from Basra to other cities in the region, U.S. officials contend that behind the scenes Iran is continuing to supply weapons and training to Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and other criminal elements connected to his militia.

The political and security instability is posing serious challenges for Gen. Petraeus, who witnessed significant progress in Iraq since the surge.

"Iran is supplying weapons, weapons training, and we know that Iranian government officials have close ties to al-Sadr," said a U.S. counterterrorism official.

"As next-door neighbors, [Iran and the Mahdi Army] are talking to an extent," a defense official added on the condition of anonymity. "If we do draw down troops, how will this affect things? That's the $64,000 question. That's something that General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will brief the Senate on. We have to see what happens. Either you take the people out, and it falls apart, or we find that the country can manage on its own."