Excerpts From the Petraeus Hearing

-- Some excerpts from Tuesday's Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing for Lt. Gen. David Petraeus to become top American commander in Iraq:

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Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., on expectations the U.S. has for the Iraqi government, including efforts to provide Iraqi troops and crack down on ethnic militias: "Do you agree that we will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks that it has announced?"

Petraeus: "We certainly will, to the very best of our ability, sir."

Levin: "And how are we going to do that? What's the leverage on them?"

Petraeus: "Well, sir, there's a number of different ways of leverage. Among them are providing assistance or withholding assistance in various forms of the lines of operation that are pursued in Iraq."

Levin: "Do you agree that the success of the strategy is dependent upon the Iraqis carrying out their commitments?"

Petraeus: "I do, sir."

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"I think that sectarian groups would, obviously, begin to stake out their turf, try to expand their turf. They would do that by greatly increased ethnic cleansing. There is the very real possibility of involvement of countries from elsewhere in the region around Iraq entering Iraq to take sides with one or the other groups. There is the possibility certainly of a, an international terrorist organization truly getting a grip on some substantial piece of Iraq. There is the possibility of problems in the global economy, should, in fact, this cause a disruption to the flow of oil." _ Petraeus, asked by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., what would happen if the U.S. said it would withdraw in four to six months.

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Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.: "Many have argued that the overwhelming military force presence in Iraq actually will inflame the insurgency. What's your view on that?"