By NEIL H. SIMON, Media General News Service
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WASHINGTON-Senators Jim Webb and John Warner of Virginia joined Tuesday in a bipartisan challenge to the top commander of the Iraq war, questioning whether the five-year conflict has improved the safety of Americans or the strategy of the U.S. military.
Webb, a Democrat, and Warner, a Republican, both former secretaries of the Navy, fired questions at Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the multi-national force in Iraq, and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. Petraeus and Crocker last testified on the war in September.
Warner asked Petraeus whether the war is making Americans more secure.
"Up to 80 percent of the American people just don't accept the premise that it's worth it. Can you tell us in simple language that it is worth it?" Warner said.
Petraeus answered, "I do believe it is worth it."
He said he took on the task and privilege of commanding the multi-national forces, because I do believe it is worth it, he said. Regarding al-Qaida, Iranian influence in Iraq and stability in the region, Petraeus said, "I do believe we have made progress in the past year."
Petraeus testified that after the additional U.S. troops sent to Iraq in 2006 are pulled out this July, the military will wait 45 days before considering whether to withdraw more of the roughly 140,000 troops remaining in the country.
"Withdrawing too many forces too quickly could jeopardize the progress of the past year," he said.
Webb said keeping so many troops in Iraq this summer could continue to prevent the military from fighting terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"I start wondering how we're going to do that and still meet the demands that are outside Iraq," he said.
But several Senate supporters of the troop surge strategy, which Petraeus credited with bringing the lowest levels of violence to Iraq in three years, said it is working, giving Iraqi military and civilian leaders time to establish themselves and prevent al-Qaida from building its base in Iraq.
"Al-Qaida cannot stand the surge," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. said. "If you put a list of people who wanted us to leave, the number one group would be al-Qaida, because you've been kicking them all over Iraq."
Webb challenged Crocker on the diplomatic front, asking why the Bush administration will not share with Congress an agreement now being drafted to authorize a U.S. troop presence in Iraq beyond 2008, when the current United Nations resolution expires.
Crocker said that because the agreement will not call for establishing permanent bases in Iraq, it does not need the Senate's approval, a step that is constitutionally required for international treaties.
But under questioning from Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Crocker said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government would be sharing the agreement with its parliament.
Before the hearing, 400 veterans rallied in support of the troop surge strategy.
"It's obviously working and it's the first strategy that has," said Coby Dillard of Richmond, who served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Constellation during the initial invasion of Iraq.
The mission was not accomplished in 2003, Dillard said, but "it's beginning to turn around. Iraqis are beginning to standup on their own."
At the rally, Graham thanked the veterans for their work to drum up legislative support for the war effort.
"The only thing between us and winning is the Congress. Keep the pressure up," Graham said.
Webb, a Democrat, and Warner, a Republican, both former secretaries of the Navy, fired questions at Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the multi-national force in Iraq, and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. Petraeus and Crocker last testified on the war in September.
Warner asked Petraeus whether the war is making Americans more secure.
"Up to 80 percent of the American people just don't accept the premise that it's worth it. Can you tell us in simple language that it is worth it?" Warner said.
Petraeus answered, "I do believe it is worth it."
He said he took on the task and privilege of commanding the multi-national forces, because I do believe it is worth it, he said. Regarding al-Qaida, Iranian influence in Iraq and stability in the region, Petraeus said, "I do believe we have made progress in the past year."
Petraeus testified that after the additional U.S. troops sent to Iraq in 2006 are pulled out this July, the military will wait 45 days before considering whether to withdraw more of the roughly 140,000 troops remaining in the country.
"Withdrawing too many forces too quickly could jeopardize the progress of the past year," he said.
Webb said keeping so many troops in Iraq this summer could continue to prevent the military from fighting terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"I start wondering how we're going to do that and still meet the demands that are outside Iraq," he said.
But several Senate supporters of the troop surge strategy, which Petraeus credited with bringing the lowest levels of violence to Iraq in three years, said it is working, giving Iraqi military and civilian leaders time to establish themselves and prevent al-Qaida from building its base in Iraq.
"Al-Qaida cannot stand the surge," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. said. "If you put a list of people who wanted us to leave, the number one group would be al-Qaida, because you've been kicking them all over Iraq."
Webb challenged Crocker on the diplomatic front, asking why the Bush administration will not share with Congress an agreement now being drafted to authorize a U.S. troop presence in Iraq beyond 2008, when the current United Nations resolution expires.
Crocker said that because the agreement will not call for establishing permanent bases in Iraq, it does not need the Senate's approval, a step that is constitutionally required for international treaties.
But under questioning from Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Crocker said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government would be sharing the agreement with its parliament.
Before the hearing, 400 veterans rallied in support of the troop surge strategy.
"It's obviously working and it's the first strategy that has," said Coby Dillard of Richmond, who served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Constellation during the initial invasion of Iraq.
The mission was not accomplished in 2003, Dillard said, but "it's beginning to turn around. Iraqis are beginning to standup on their own."
At the rally, Graham thanked the veterans for their work to drum up legislative support for the war effort.
"The only thing between us and winning is the Congress. Keep the pressure up," Graham said.