Petraeus: Iraq Security Improved, but 'Fragile and Reversible'

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McCain Speaks at Iraq Hearings

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) delivered an opening statement at the start of hearings on the war in Iraq. Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are testifying before the Senate.

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Later, Obama implicitly drew a distinction between his opposition to the war and Clinton's support of a 2002 resolution authorizing it. And he pointedly argued against Petraeus's rejection of setting a timeline for a U.S. pullout.

"I continue to believe the original decision to go into Iraq was a massive strategic blunder," Obama said in the Foreign Relations Committee hearing. He said last year's troop increase "has reduced violence" but that the Iraqi government has not taken advantage of it to resolve sectarian differences. The way to promote a resolution is by "applying increased pressure in a measured way," he told Petraeus and Crocker. This pressure, he said, should include a timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

In response to questions from Levin and McCain, Petraeus acknowledged that an Iraqi offensive against Shiite Muslim militias and other armed groups in the southern oil hub of Basra was inadequately planned and executed. He said Maliki, who is a Shiite, ignored his advice in deciding to go ahead with the operation.

"There is no question that it could have been better planned and that the preparations could have been better," Petraeus said. He said the Iraqi forces were deployed rapidly and found themselves in combat "before all conditions were set."

He agreed with McCain that the operation has been "a disappointment" but cautioned that "it's not over yet," saying that Iraqi forces now control some key ports. "The operation is still very much ongoing," the general said.

In his opening statement, Petraeus cited "significant but uneven security progress in Iraq," saying that levels of violence and civilian deaths have declined substantially and that the group known as al-Qaeda in Iraq and other extremist organizations "have been dealt serious blows." In addition, he said, "the capabilities of Iraqi Security Force elements have grown, and there has been noteworthy involvement of local Iraqis in local security."

However, "the situation in certain areas is still unsatisfactory, and innumerable challenges remain," Petraeus said. "Moreover, as events in the past two weeks have reminded us and as I have repeatedly cautioned, the progress made since last spring is fragile and reversible."

In his opening remarks, Levin accused Maliki of "incompetence and excessively sectarian leadership" and said the United States must force Iraqi leaders "to take responsibility for their own future -- politically, economically and militarily."

He added: "Our current open-ended commitment is an invitation to continuing dependency. An open-ended pause starting in July would be just the next page in a war plan with no exit strategy." He quoted a senior U.S. military officer in Iraq as telling him during a recent visit, "It is time to take the training wheels off, and time to take our hands off the Iraqis' bicycle seat."

Levin charged that the Maliki government's "incompetence" was dramatized by its offensive in Basra. "Far from being the 'defining moment' President Bush described, it was a haphazardly planned operation, carried out apparently without meaningful consultation with the U.S. military or even key Iraqi leaders, while Maliki made unrealistic claims, promises and threats," he said.

Despite reaping a windfall from high oil prices, Iraq continues to rely on massive U.S. funding, Levin said. Instead of paying for "its own reconstruction," as the Bush administration promised it would, Iraq has been putting tens of billions of dollars of surplus oil revenue into bank accounts around the world, including about $30 billion in U.S. banks, he said.

While U.S. taxpayers fund at least $27.6 billion to date in major infrastructure projects, job training, education and the training and equipping of Iraq's security forces, they also are now paying $3 to $4 a gallon for gasoline, Levin said. "The Iraqi government seems content to sit by, build up surpluses and let Americans reconstruct their country and foot the bill. But the American people surely aren't content with that, and the Bush administration shouldn't be, either."