Word: crocker
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...exchange came during the general's second hearing Tuesday - the first had been before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - and the third of the week for both Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Baghdad. The Senate is the preeminent chamber on foreign affairs and national security (remember, its members have to ratify international treaties and confirm secretaries of state and defense), and so, in contrast to the House a day earlier, much of the nearly 10 hours of Senators' questioning was tough and to the point: What is the mission of the U.S. military in Iraq, the Senators wanted...
...afflict Iraqi society," said Senator Richard Lugar, the Indiana Republican. "Some type of success in Iraq is possible, but as policymakers, we should acknowledge that we are facing extraordinarily narrow margins for achieving our goals." Nebraska Republican Charles Hagel noted "some very bright-line contradictions" between what Petraeus and Crocker were saying, on the one hand, and a plethora of more dire reports from assorted U.S. agencies on the other. "Is it worth it," he asked, "the continued investment of American blood and treasure...
...city of Basra-not even the most knowledgeable Senators had the facts to dispute him. The general was armed with the modern military's deadliest weapon, the PowerPoint-presentation-serried ranks of bar charts marching toward victory, which provided camouflage for the gaping holes and contradictions in the Petraeus-Crocker story. Crocker, for example, seemed particularly insistent on roping Iran into the scenario. "The Iranian President has already announced that Iran will fill any vacuum in Iraq," the ambassador testified. But Crocker also testified that the Iraqi Shi'ites were Arabs who had fought fiercely against the Iranians...
California Senator Barbara Boxer almost asked a good question at the Petraeus-Crocker festivities on Capitol Hill this week. She was reminiscing, as most of her colleagues did, about time spent on the ground in Iraq with General David Petraeus, but it was not a recent visit. It was back in 2005, when Petraeus was in charge of training the new Iraqi army. An aide pulled out a blown-up photograph of the Senator and the general. "You were so upbeat, General," Boxer said. "You said, 'You're about to see some terrific troops.'" There were 100,000 of them...
...cleverness of Bush's strategy was apparent when Senator Russ Feingold asked Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker a very important question: Which should have the higher priority in the war against al-Qaeda, Iraq or the rebuilt al-Qaeda leadership and terrorist camps, festering on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border? Feingold had forced Crocker, the elusive former ambassador to Pakistan, into a corner and then, inexplicably, let him off the hook and turned to Petraeus, who rightly claimed a lack of knowledge or authority to answer that question. The nonanswer stood as the Bush Administration's response to an essential strategic...