New General in charge of Bush's plan is confident; calls Iraq situation "dire"

Linked article By Ann Scott Tyson and Daniela Deane, Washington Post

In a meeting with Senate Armed Services committee today, the new leader picked by President Bush to head up the new surge of 21,500 troops into Iraq referred to this step as the "last chance" for Iraq, despite being cautiously optimistic for democracy to take hold in the war-torn country. Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, likely to be approved later this week by Congress, called the situation in Iraq "dire", but anticipated seeing positive reaction to the increased number of troops by late summer. The last of the five brigades are scheduled to arrive on the ground in late May. Before this most recent build-up, over 132,000 American troops are currently serving the country in an attempt to quell sectarian violence and promote democracy.
Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) -- a proponent of Bush's strategy -- asked Petraeus how long the troop increase could be sustained.
"I am keenly aware of the strain," said Petraeus, only mentioning how he felt the military is currently at a state where it could not equally respond to another situation immediately. He also welcomed Bush's idea to increase the size of U.S. forces over the next five years.
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York, who announced her intention to run for Presidency last weekend, also questioned Petraeus. The two had a somewhat tense exchange when Petraeus said he felt that the disagreement between American's over the troop surge could be hurting the situation in Iraq. Clinton responded by saying she felt that the idea is to put more pressure on the Iraqi government.

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While it was rare for an active-duty officer to speak out against current Congressional matters, Petraeus certainly did so when questioned by Clinton. But who is right, are the Iraqi's feeling pressure or are they laughing at the controversey in the U.S.? Petraeus also commented about how this is the "last chance" for America to succeed in Iraq -- a phrase that if taken literally could furrow Bush's brows. In fact, time is running out for this campaign, despite the limited successes we've seen in the ravaged country. An interesting note from today's news was the fact that top generals don't feel they could successfully enter into another operation as forces are currently spread too thin in Iraq and Afghanistan, which shows that any possibility of dealing with Iran or North Korea, as has been subtlely hinted at, isn't very realistic. Personally, I find that news as a relief because instead of spreading democracy, we have plenty of international relations to mend. In the mean time, it apparently is now or never for the Iraq situation, and it makes you wonder what is going to happen after late summer or if more weekends like this past one will instigate a resolve in the American people to bring the troops back on a much quicker pace.

Side note: It is funny what headlines can do to you, as the Washington Post reads "Petraeus Confident in New Iraq Strategy" and Yahoo! News reads "U.S. General Calls Iraq Situation Dire" . The same article, ultimately, but just skimming the headlines can fool you. Never judge a book by its cover.

State of the Union is tonight ... plenty on that tomorrow.