WASHINGTON - Iraq war commander General David Petraeus is poised to mount a staunch defense of the US troop surge strategy Monday, in one of the most dramatic appearances of a witness before Congress in years.
The talismanic general faces a hostile barrage from Democrats over if and when troops can come home from a four-year war that has killed more than 3,700 US soldiers, tens of thousands of Iraqis and cost half a trillion dollars.
Joined by US ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker, Petraeus will swap Baghdad's stifling heat for cool congressional committee rooms Monday and Tuesday, to compliment a report on the war which President George W. Bush must deliver by September 15.
He will argue the contentious strategy, announced in January to surge 28,500 extra troops into war-battered Iraq, has slashed sectarian violence and should be extended.
But he also is expected to accept gradual cuts in the 168,000 strong US garrison in Iraq, beginning early next year -- though the reductions he has in mind will likely not satisfy anti-war Democrats.
"My sense is that we have achieved tactical momentum and wrested the initiative from our enemies in a number of areas of Iraq," Petraeus wrote in a letter to US forces.
But he admitted political reconciliation in Baghdad had not "worked out as we had hoped" though he was optimistic "a stable and secure Iraq" was possible.
Democrats have for months seen Petraeus's testimony as a landmark moment in the war, and hoped to use it to fracture Republican support for Bush, though they appear to have been outflanked by the White House during August, and the threat of a Republican revolt seems to have faded.
Democrats will claim sacrifices made by US soldiers were in vain, with no sign the Iraqi government has made the progress the surge was designed to promote.
Petraeus's expected contention that sectarian violence is receding in Iraq will also be under fire, after a US official auditor Friday cast doubt on the figures.
And Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh, speaking in Baghdad Sunday, urged against a US withdrawal because the Iraqi government needs help to "prevent the return of the terrorists."
"We still need the support of the multinational forces. This is not the time to set up a timetable for their withdrawal," Dabbagh added.
Democrats are under pressure from grass roots supporters who helped them capture Congress last year, but slim majorities and Bush's constitutional powers have thwarted their anti-war drive.
According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll out Sunday, 60 percent of Americans do not believe that US forces are making significant progress towards restoring order in Iraq, while 58 percent believe the "surge" has made little difference.
Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the House of Representatives Democratic caucus, accused the administration of "cherry-picking" progress in Iraq.
"We don't need a report that wins the Nobel Prize for creative statistics or the Pulitzer for fiction," Emanuel said.
The stage was set for Petraeus by two reports examined in high-stakes congressional hearings last week.
In one, the Government Accountability Office concluded Iraq had failed to meet 11 of 18 benchmarks for political reform.
In a second study, retired marine general James Jones warned US-trained Iraqi forces would not be able to assume combat duties alone for 12 to 18 months.
Faced with such realities, not only Democrats have political concerns -- with congressional elections looming in 2008, Republicans fear having to woo voters while again defending an unpopular war.
Petraeus's testimony is expected to expose chasms in US politics forged by the war, amid reports of dissent even among top military commanders over the "surge" policy.
Petraeus has clashed with his immediate military superior Admiral William Fallon, who believes the "surge" is using up valuable troops needed elsewhere across the Middle East, The Washington Post reported Sunday.
Republican presidential candidates, who have largely supported the unpopular surge, will be hoping Petraeus can buy them some time in Iraq, before first nominating contests early next year.
Democratic feeling is just as intense, and pacesetting Democrat Hillary Clinton, who has pledged to start troop withdrawals if she is elected, will likely confront Petraeus in the Senate Armed Services committee on Tuesday.
bur-ksh/ag

09/09/2007 14:33 GMT