Troop surge in Iraq: The Petraeus Report: Testimony

This article is part of SourceWatch and Congresspedia coverage of the Bush administration's war in Iraq

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The following are links to testimony by Lt.Gen. David Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, regarding their report on the progress of the war and troop surge in Iraq.

September 10, 2007 Testimony

The following relates to testimony on September 10, 2007, by Lt.Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker before a joint session of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Transcripts

• Ranking House Committee Members Grill Crocker and Petraeus on U.S. Progress in Iraq, CQ Transcripts (published by Washington Post), September 10, 2007.
• "Full text: Petraeus and Crocker testimony," The Politico, September 10, 2007. Also see Petraeus's statement (9-page pdf) and Crocker's statement (9-page pdf).
• Mary Katherine Ham, "House Petraeus Hearing Opening Statements: Transcript of Tom Lantos, Duncan Hunter, and Ileana Ross-Lehtenin," Townhall.com, September 10, 2007.
• Greg Mitchell, "Petraeus and the 'Long Pole'," Editor & Publisher, September 10, 2007. Transcript of May 8, 2007, Associated Press satellite interview with Petraeus in Baghdad in which Petraeus said "that the surge should be judged, first of all, by political progress and reconciliation in Iraq. Now he's changed his tune, and no wonder."

Video (while live blogging)

• "Iraq Commander Petraeus: Report to Congress," PoliticsTV on YouTube, September 10, 2007 (30 min 51 sec).
• Nicole Belle, "The Iraq War Report: Rep. Lantos 'We can not take ANY of this Administration’s assertions on Iraq at face value anymore'," Crooks and Liars, September 10, 2007.
• Nicole Belle, "The Iraq War Report: 'Take it easy…'," Crooks and Liars, September 10, 2007.
• Nicole Belle, "The Iraq War Report: Rep. Ackerman asks the BIG question," Crooks and Liars, September 10, 2007.
• John Amato, "Rep. Wexler: Gen. Petraeus testimony eerily similar to Westmoreland and Vietnam," Crooks and Liars, September 10, 2007.

Live blogging

• Christy Hardin Smith, "The Petraeus/Crocker Show," Firedoglake Blog, September 10, 2007:

• Part I; Part II; Part III; Part IV; and Part V.

• Nick Bauman, "Minute-by-Minute Coverage of the Petraeus/Crocker Report," September 10, 2007:" The most important (and absurd) moments from General Petraeus' and Ambassador Crocker's long-awaited appearance on the Hill."

• Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; and Part 4.

• Jane Roh, "Liveblogging The House Iraq Report Hearing," The Gate/National Journal, September 10, 2007.

• Ilan Goldenberg, "Liveblogging Petraeus/Crocker Hearings" (themes background) and "Live Blogging Thread on Petraeus Crocker Testimony," Democracy Arsenal, September 10, 2007.

• Joe Sudbay, "Petraeus doesn't know if his strategy is making America safer," AMERICAblog, September 11, 2007.

• Spencer Ackerman, TPMmuckraker, September 10, 2007:

• "Will We See How Petraeus Defines 'Sectarian Violence'?"
• "Iraqi Civilian Casualties: 2007 More Deadly Than 2006"
• "Petraeus: My Statistics Are Correct"
• "Petraeus: The Surge Will End in July 2008"
• "Crocker: Hopeful Signs 'Not Measurable in Benchmarks'"
• "Crocker: Surge Has Given Iraqis 'Breathing Room' For Politics"
• "Why Not A Faster Withdrawal?"
• "Crocker's Questionable 'Seeds of National Reconciliation'"
• "Petraeus: We're Not Arming Sunni Tribes"
• "Petraeus: There's a Timeline For Transferring Iraq to the Iraqis"
• "Petraeus: Counting Sectarian Attacks 'Not That Complicated'"
• "Petraeus, Crocker: It's Our Report"
• "Petraeus Punts on How Long We'll Stay in Iraq"
• "Petraeus: How Many Times Do I Have to Defend My Stats?"
• "Petraeus Stands By Disputed 2004 Op-Ed"

• John Bresnahan, The Politico, September 10, 2007:

• "House gets ready for Petraeus/Crocker hearing"
• "Skelton says there has been 'tactical progress' in Iraq"
• "Hunter's opening remarks before Petraeus hearing"
• "Lantos: 'It is time to go, and to go now'"
• "Ros-Lehtinen: 'Iraq is the central front front in the war on freedom'"
• "After all the testimony, the real votes on Iraq come next week"
• "Petraeus: Surge can end by summer 2008"
• "Chairman Skelton's opening statement"
• "Crocker: Victory in Iraq for United States is still possible"
• "Crocker: 'Iran plays a harmful role in Iraq'"
• "Petraeus wins that round with Lantos"
• "Abercrombie slaps down Ros-Lehtinen"
• "Spratt pushes on the cost of the Iraq war"
• "Petraeus says United States is trying not to create more insurgents or terrorists in Iraq"
• "Petraeus: 'You cannot win the Iraq war solely in Iraq'"
• "Petraeus says Iraq campaign is helping in 'War on Terror'"
• "Four hours into the hearing, people are starting to leave"
• "Abercrombie: 'Iraq not a sovereign country'"
• "No mention of President Bush today"
• "Petraeus' aides think 'it's going really well'"
• "Petraeus: 'We are not going to kill our way out of all the problems in Iraq'"
• "Wexler compares Petraeus to William Westmoreland, U.S. commander in Vietnam"
• "Engel: 'Optimism is great but reality is what we need'"
• "It's all over"

• Nick Juliano, The Raw Story, September 10, 2007:

• "'I wrote this testimony myself,' Petraeus swears before Congress"
• "'War criminal' cries get protesters quickly removed from hearin"
• "Republicans focus on attacking MoveOn.org 'Gen. Betray Us' ad during 'surge' hearing"

• Think Progress, September 10, 2007:

• "Petraeus hearing underway"
• "Petraeus Falsely Claims That Six Months Ago, ‘No One Would Have Forecast’ Anbar’s Success"

Fact checking

• "Myths and falsehoods about progress in Iraq," Media Matters for America, September 9, 2007.
• Ilan Goldenberg, Democracy Arsenal, September 10, 2007:

• Petraeus's Testimony Fact Check"
• "Crocker Testimony"

• Frank James, "Anti-surge group 'fact checks' Petraeus," The Swamp Blog/Baltimore Sun, September 10, 2007. re National Security Network
• "Fact Check: Today's Testimony Offers Few Answers," Democratic Caucus's Senate Journal, September 10, 2007.
• "FACT CHECK: Petraeus To Withdraw Troops Next Summer Because Of Broken Military, Not ‘Progress’," Think Progress, September 10, 2007.
• Jeffrey Feldman, "How Right-Wing Lie About MoveOn Ad Became The Story," The Huffington Post, September 11, 2007. re MoveOn.org

• See Pete Hegseth, "MoveOn.org Calls Petraeus a Traitor. Do Democrats in Congress agree?" The Weekly Standard, September 9, 2007.

• Also see David Petraeus postings at The Daily Kos.

External articles

• Dan Froomkin, "Does Petraeus Have the Answers?" Washington Post, September 10, 2007.
• Eric Weiner and Scott Neuman, "Petraeus Signals Possible Troop Reduction in Iraq," NPR, September 10, 2007.
• Janine Zacharia and Tony Capaccio, "Petraeus Says Forces in Iraq Can Be Cut This Year (Update1)," Bloomberg News, September 10, 2007.
• Mark Silva, "Petraeus: Return to 'pre-surge' force by mid-2008," The Swamp Blog/Baltimore Sun, September 10, 2007.
• "US surge goals being met: US general at pivotal hearing," Agence France Presse, September 10, 2007.
• "Proposed troops cuts would end surge by mid-2008," Agence France Presse (The Raw Story), September 10, 2007.
• "Petraeus says Iran weapons flow into Iraq rising," Reuters, September 10, 2007.
• John Aravosis, "Petraeus Deception Begins," AMERICAblog, September 10, 2007.
• "REPORT: Petraeus Spent At Least 17 Days In August Flacking For Bush’s Escalation," Think Progress, September 10, 2007.
• "Brit Hume’s exclusive one hour interview," Think Progress, September 10, 2007.
• Karen DeYoung and Thomas E. Ricks, "General’s long view could cut debate short. Petraeus, Crocker try to slow down Washington," Washington Post (MSNBC), September 11, 2007.
• Howard LaFranchi, "Petraeus, Crocker try to buy time for US efforts in Iraq. Their mostly upbeat testimony probably gives Bush some political space, but the reports aren't likely to result in broad political consensus," Christian Science Monitor, September 11, 2007.
• Paul Rieckhoff, "The Petraeus Report: This Is What We Waited For?" The Huffington Post, September 11, 2007.
• Walter Shapiro, "Bush gets no surge from Petraeus. The top general failed before Congress to clarify how America will exit the debilitating war in Iraq," Salon, September 11, 2007.
• Ken Fireman and Janine Zacharia, "Petraeus's Credibility Wins Bush Extra Time for Iraq Strategy," Bloomberg News, September 11, 2007.
• H.D.S. Greenway, Op-Ed: "Team Bush's false optimism," Boston Globe, September 11, 2007.
• Bruce Falconer, "Staying the Course: Petraeus, Crocker Recommend Continuing the Surge," MotherJones, September 10, 2007.
• Jonathan Stein, "MoveOn, Anbar, and Lantos: Final Thoughts on the Petraeus and Crocker Hearing," MoJo Blog/MotherJones, September 10, 2007.

September 11, 2007 Testimony

The following relates to testimony on September 11, 2007, by Lt.Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the morning and before the Senate Armed Services Committee in the afternoon.

Transcripts

• "Crocker and Petraeus Testify Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Iraq," CQ Transcripts (published by Washington Post), September 11, 2007.
• "Crocker, Petraeus Testify Before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Iraq," CQ Transcripts (published by Washington Post), September 11, 2007.

Video (while live blogging)

• "Hardball: 'What do you say? Why did they fall?'" Crooks and Liars, September 11, 2007.

Live blogging

• Christy Hardin Smith, "The Petraeus/Crocker Show, Day 2", Firedoglake Blog, September 11, 2007:

• Part I; Part II; Part III; Part IV; Part V

• Spencer Ackerman, TPMmuckraker, September 11, 2007:

• Testimony before Senate Foreign Relations Committee:
  • "Petraeus' Methodology is Better than... What, Exactly?"
  • "Petraeus on GAO: 'Their Data Is Our Data'"
  • "From Where Does Petraeus' Confidence Spring?"
  • "Petraeus Clarifies: Rotating-Out Marines Were Scheduled to Come Home"
  • "How Does the Anbar Shift Relate to Reconciliation?"
  • "Feingold Presses Crocker, Petraeus on Iraq War and al-Qaeda"
  • "Crocker: Spending Safeguards in Place -- 'To A Degree'"
  • "Petraeus: Give Iraq More Weapons"
• Testimony before Senate Armed Services Committee:
  • "Crocker Doesn't 'Recall' Saying It Would Be a 'Good Thing' If Maliki Falls"
  • "Petraeus Again Dodges On Length of Occupation"
  • "Petraeus: 'I Don't Know' if Iraq Victory Will Make U.S. Safer"
  • "Lieberman: Can't We Invade Iran Yet?"
  • "Petraeus Concedes Drawdown Depends on Deployment Length"
  • "How Much American Blood and Treasure Is A Sectarian Iraq Worth?"
  • "Petraeus: I Never Meant to Say Iraq Doesn't Make Us Safer!"
  • "Iraq: The Next Darfur?"
  • "Which Mission Is 'Mission Accomplished'?"
  • "Petraeus: What Sunni Insurgency?"
  • "What About Fraud?"

• Think Progress, September 11, 2007:

• "Petraeus: ‘I don’t know’ if Iraq war makes America safer"
• "Pentagon seeks ‘very rapid reduction’ of troops"

• Jane Roh, "Liveblogging The Senate Iraq Report Hearing," The Gate/National Journal, September 11, 2007.

• Ilan Goldenberg, "Testimony Live Thread," Democracy Arsenal, September 11, 2007.

• John Bresnahan, The Crypt Blog/The Politico, September 11, 2007:

• Testimony before Senate Foreign Relations Committee:
  • "Getting ready for Day 2 of Petraeus/Crocker"
  • "Lugar criticizes both White House and Democrats"
  • "Feingold on today's hearing"
  • "Crocker: No Nelson Mandela in Iraq"
  • "Petraeus' statement is the same as yesterday"
  • "Biden calls for end of the surge and withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq"
  • "Biden: 'Five weeks in Iraq is a moment'"
  • "Dodd: 'Where has that (Iraqi) leadership been for the last four-and-a-half years?'"
  • "Dodd: 'Happy talk' isn't fooling Iraqis"
  • "Hagel: 'To question strategy is not unpatriotic'"
  • "Crocker: Iraq 'almost came apart completely in 2006'"
  • "Coleman applauds troop withdrawals"
  • "Feingold: 'This is the myopia of Iraq'"
  • "Boxer to Petraeus: 'Take off your rosy glasses'"
  • "Kerry is huddling with Obama"
  • "Obama: 'There are bad options and there are worse options'"
  • "Menendez rattles Petraeus"
  • "Democrats are having a much better day than Monday"
• Testimony before Senate Armed Services Committee:
  • "McCain: Chaos and genocide if U.S. withdraws"
  • "Petraeus is giving the same testimony for 3rd time"
  • "Levin: Repeated White House talk of Iraq progress 'has been a litany of delusion'"
  • "Crocker denies saying failure of Maliki gov't would be 'a good thing'"
  • "Crocker: Partition is 'not a viable option' for Iraq"
  • "Warner says 'political reconciliation' can't be used to justify Bush strategy on Iraq"
  • "Lieberman says Petraeus and Crocker have helped his side in Iraq debate"
  • "Reed duels with Petraeus"
  • "The only drama left is Hillary"
  • "Crocker: Option on U.S.-Iran talks should be left open"
  • "Did Graham help or hurt his cause?"
  • "Crocker: Saudi Arabia will re-open embassy in Baghdad"
  • "Petraeus now thinks Iraq war has made America safer"
  • "Clinton: Believing Petraeus and Crocker requires 'willing suspension of disbelief'"
  • "It's nearly over, only two senators left"
  • "It's finally over"

• Nick Juliano, The Raw Story, September 11, 2007:

• "In planning Iraq's future, US can't 'see beyond next summer,' ambassador says"
• "Lieberman blames Iran for Iraq attacks, asks if invasion should be authorized"

Fact checking

• Michael Hirsh, "The General as Salesman. Not surprisingly, Petraeus performed smoothly in his testimony to Congress. But an internal Pentagon report is expected to 'differ substantially' from his recommendations on withdrawal from Iraq, NEWSWEEK has learned," Newsweek (MSNBC), September 11, 2007.
• John Aravosis, "Newsweek: Internal Pentagon report contradicts Petraeus' testimony to Congress," AMERICAblog, September 11, 2007.
• Steve Benen, "Pentagon, Petraeus to ‘differ substantially’ on Iraq," Crooks and Liars, September 11, 2007.
• Amanda Terkel, "Is Petraeus’ Drawdown Part Of The White House’s 2008 Political Strategy?" Think Progress, September 11, 2007.
• "Just Another Six Months...," Democratic Caucus's Senate Journal, September 11, 2007.
• "Petraeus adviser: Petraeus’ testimony ‘potentially misleading’," Think Progress, October 8, 2007.

External articles

• Nancy Youssef and Leila Fadel, "What Crocker and Petraeus Didn't Say," McClatchy Newspapers (AlterNet), September 11, 2007.
• "Petraeus grilled over Bush's Iraq strategy," Reuters, September 11, 2007.
• BC, "Hey Pundits, This Is The Forest - Please Ignore The Trees," AMERICAblog, September 11, 2007.
• Sarah Wheaton, "BlogTalk: The Petraeus Testimony," The Lede Blog/New York Times, September 11, 2007.
• George F. Will, "A War Still Seeking a Mission," Washington Post, September 11, 2007.
• Paul Kiel, Today's Must Read, TPMmuckraker, September 11, 2007.
• Steve Benen, "Bush has found his exit strategy," The Carpetbagger Report, September 11, 2007.
• SilentPatriot, "Petraeus Finds Friendly Home for Propaganda on FOX," Crooks and Liars, September 11, 2007.
• "Surge a failure, Democrats tell general," Agence France Presse, September 11, 2007.
• Julian E. Barnes, "Questions get tougher for Petraeus, Crocker," Los Angeles Times, September 11, 2007.
• "Petraeus Praises 'Surge' Results, Warns Against Quick Withdrawal From Iraq," Democracy Now!, September 11, 2007.
• Dan Balz, "Petraeus and the Next President's Burden," The Trail Blog/Washington Post, September 11, 2007.
• Howard LaFranchi, "Iraq hearings look beyond Bush presidency. Presidential hopefuls offered their views at Senate hearings," Christian Science Monitor, September 11, 2007.
• Joe Sudbay, "Soltz: Petraeus not knowing if Iraq strategy is making us safer shows Bush 'is hiding behind General Petraeus'," AMERICAblog, September 11, 2007.
• Marcy Wheeler, "Invite Admiral Fallon to Tell Us if We're Safer," The Next Hurrah Blog, September 11, 2007.
• Robert Scheer, "The General Lies," Truthdig, September 11, 2007.
• "US general's plan means 10 more years of war: Democrats," Agence France Presse, September 11, 2007.
• Fred Kaplan, "That's More Like It! The Senate grills Petraeus and Crocker," Slate, September 11, 2007.
• Editorial: "Iraq: the unanswered questions," Boston Globe, September 12, 2007.
• Editorial: "Fiddling as Iraq Burns," The Star (Toronto, Ca.), September 12, 2007.
• Anne Davies, "Positive spin on Iraq defies history," The Age (Australia), September 12, 2007.
• Spencer Ackerman, "Petraeus/Crocker Wrap Up: The Known Unknowns," TPMmuckraker, September 12, 2007.

Post-testimony reactions

• Spencer Ackerman, TPMmuckraker, September 12, 2007:

• "Petraeus' Counting Methodology Unveiled (Well, Sort of)"
• "Yes, Virginia, There Is A Sunni Insurgency"
• "Petraeus' Subordinate: Yes, We Are Arming Sunnis"
• "Tony Snow vs. Petraeus on Troop Reductions"

• David Jackson, "Outcomes since Bush unveiled buildup," USA TODAY, September 12, 2007.
• Satyam Khanna, "CentCom Chief Fallon: Petraeus Is ‘An Ass-Kissing, Little Chickensh*t,’ ‘I Hate People Like That’," Think Progress, September 12, 2007.
• Frank James, "Reid painting GOP senators with Iraq brush," The Swamp Blog/Baltimore Sun, September 12, 2007.
• Mike Viqueria, "Petraeus Fallout," First Read/MSNBC, September 12, 2007.
• Jane Roh, "Not An Open-Ended Commitment. Just Really Bloody Long," The Gate/National Journal, September 12, 2007.
• Bill Scher, "Do These 12 Republicans Want At Least 10 More Years In Iraq?" The Huffington Post, September 12, 2007.
• Mark Silva, "Bush speech to tout Petraeus timetable. But Democrats see plan as 'open-ended'," Chicago Tribune, September 13, 2007.
• Jonathan Weisman and Shailagh Murray, "Democrats Push Toward Middle On Iraq Policy," Washington Post, September 13, 2007.
• Peter Baker and Thomas E. Ricks, "Petraeus Returns to War That Is Now His Own," Washington Post, September 13, 2007.
• David Ignatius, "How This Ends," Washington Post, September 13, 2007.
• Sidney Blumenthal, "How Bush is trying to save face in Iraq. The president is now taking credit for turning Sunni tribes against al-Qaida in Iraq. But two years ago he rejected a Sunni offer to negotiate an end to the violence," Salon, September 13, 2007.