A frustrated general: Setting date is wrong

Pressed by senators, Petraeus won’t promise troop withdrawals

WASHINGTON. After a long day of questions — and speeches masquerading as questions — the final hour of a Senate hearing featuring the Iraq war commander produced a revealing moment.

With TV cameras trained on Gen. David Petraeus in a packed room on Capitol Hill, Sen. George Voinovich, Republican from Ohio, noted the enormous expense of a war that has lasted more than five years, taken more than 4,000 American lives and cost hundreds of billions of dollars.

“The American people have had it up to here,” Voinovich declared, “we’re stressed out” from a conflict that seems to have no end in sight.

Petraeus, who has spent more time in Iraq than any other general, didn’t argue.

“I certainly share the frustration,” he said.

And yet, the bottom line of Petraeus’ message yesterday at back-to-back Senate hearings was that it’s still too early to promise further withdrawals of U.S. troops because Iraq remains in danger of returning to chaos.

Petraeus was told by a parade of Democrats that, after five years of war, it was past time to turn over much more of the war burden to the Iraqis. But when it came to promising or predicting a timetable for further withdrawals, Petraeus didn’t budge.