Does Petraeus Have the Answers?

It will come as a surprise to absolutely no one that Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, and U.S Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker want Congress to give them more time.

But to what end?

The real newsworthiness of today's congressional testimony from those two gentlemen will depend on their being asked the right questions -- and on how they answer them.

There has been no shortage of suggestions about what Congress should ask. The Los Angeles Times editorial board writes that "the key questions on which we are most eager to hear the views of Petraeus and Crocker are these: What is the least dreadful strategy for winding up U.S. military involvement in Iraq? What can be done to minimize the inevitable American and Iraqi casualties as the U.S. withdraws its troops? Which political, military and diplomatic actions are most likely to reduce the length and ferocity of the ongoing Iraqi civil war and the risk of intervention by Iraq's neighbors, during and after the U.S. disengagement? And how best can the United States mitigate the massive crisis of Iraqi refugees?"

The New York Times op-ed page asked six experts for questions they would pose. Among them:

"General Petraeus, has the surge bought us anything more enduring than fleeting tactical victories? . . .

"You have described your mission as 'buying time for Iraqis to reconcile.' How will we know when reconciliation is occurring? Please explain how American collaboration with Sunni insurgents lends itself to this larger process of reconciliation."

Meanwhile, Fred Kaplan writes for Slate: "After the surge, what? What is the new strategy? What are the core missions of U.S. forces? Where should they go, and what should they do there? What can they accomplish, with a fair chance of success, at reduced levels? And what is the meaning of success?"

Brian Katulis offers yet another set of questions in his post on washingtonpost.com's Think Tank Town blog:

"Is any increased stability in Iraq the result of population displacements and sectarian cleansing? . . .

"What is the 'bottom-up' reconciliation plan for southern and northern Iraq? . . .

"What is the plan for integrating irregular Sunni forces into Iraq's national government?"