Petraeus rebuffs 'war criminal' critics
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, hit back Wednesday at anti-war critics who accused him of being a White House stooge during an emotive two days of testimony at Congress.
As Petraeus and Baghdad ambassador Ryan Crocker prepared to deliver their appraisal of Iraq to US lawmakers on Monday, left-wing group MoveOn.org took out a full-page newspaper advertisement to denounce "General Betray Us."
At a news conference following the gruelling sessions in Congress, Petraeus said an old friend had sent him a copy of Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" -- which speaks of treating those "two impostors," triumph and defeat, just the same.
"I took some strength, I think, from that," the four-star general said.
"Needless to say, to state the obvious, I disagree with the message of those who are exercising the First Amendment right (to free speech) that generations of soldiers have sought to preserve for Americans.
"Some of it was just flat, completely wrong. The rest was at least more than arguable," Petraeus said of the ad, which coincided with some Democratic lawmakers' claims that the general was not an independent voice on Iraq.
The two days of congressional hearings were interrupted by screams from activists, including from the Code Pink feminist group, accusing Petraeus of being a "war criminal" who was being less than honest with the US public.
Some of the questioning, especially from two Senate hearings on Tuesday, grew spiky as Democrats and even some Republicans questioned President George W. Bush's strategy of surging about 30,000 more troops into Iraq.
In his testimony, which Petraeus insisted was not vetted by anyone at the White House or the Pentagon, the general recommended a gradual withdrawal of combat troops to pre-surge levels -- around 130,000 -- by mid-2008.
At the news conference, Crocker acknowledged US lawmakers' frustration with the halting pace of change in strife-torn Iraq but said he had come away from the hearings "somewhat encouraged."
"I've got to get back to my day job (in Baghdad) and I'm actually looking forward to it," he added to laughter.
"But I feel pleased and privileged that I did have the opportunity, as did General Petraeus, to lay out our unvarnished views on what Iraqi reality is now and where it looks to us like it's going," Crocker said.
Petraeus also hinted at some relief to be leaving the pressure-cooker politics of Capitol Hill for the heat, dust and danger of Iraq.
"I will go home... It is home now, Iraq," he told the Senate foreign relations committee Tuesday.
