Petraeus reports to Congress on Iraq (1st Lead)

Sep 10, 2007, 17:03 GMT

Washington - General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, began testifying before Congress on Monday in a crucial report on the progress made in Iraq since President George W Bush expanded the US presence in the country.

Petraeus' report has been seen as crucial in determining whether Bush can stem the growing opposition to the war and will likely focus the debate on whether the president should begin withdrawing some of the more than 160,000 US soldiers in Iraq.

The two Democratic chairmen presiding over the hearing, Representatives Ike Skelton and Tom Lantos, were sceptical about whether the situation in Iraq can be turned around with an Iraqi government that has made little progress toward reconciling differences between Iraqi ethnic and religious groups.

'No one can make the case the that Iraqi government has made great strides,' Skelton said in his opening remarks.

Petraeus is expected to urge lawmakers to support maintaining the current size of the US force in Iraq for the next several months, despite increasing pressure to begin troop withdrawals.

Petraeus and the US ambassador in Iraq, Ryan Crocker, will appear before two House committees to give their political and security assessment of Iraq as part of a congressionally mandated report.

Bush's troop surge has produced some security improvements in parts of Iraq - an achievement highly touted by the Bush administration. But hoped-for political progress among Iraqi factions has been elusive.

White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters Monday the report by Petraeus and Crocker was independent and had not been vetted by Bush.

He lashed out against Democratic critics who charged that Petraeus had too rosy a view of progress in Iraq and was doing Bush's bidding.

'The president certainly has had conversations with them and has been briefed by them. But this is not something where the White House ... is going to tell these guys what to do,' Snow told reporters.

'He was briefed by them last week and he's had conversations. He said he liked what he heard from them. But on the other hand, the White House has not played any role in putting together the testimony,' he said.