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General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, has said the troop “surge” in the country there is “meeting military objectives” and predicted a reduction in troop levels by next summer. His testimony before congress came eight months after the US sent 30,000 extra troops to the country and just days before an official White House report on the strategy

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General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, has said the troop “surge” in the country there is “meeting military objectives” and predicted a reduction in troop levels by next summer.

His testimony before congress came eight months after the US sent 30,000 extra troops to the country and just days before an official White House report on the strategy is released, which will include Monday’s testimony.

Petraeus recommended that US forces be reduced by 4,000 troops in December with more to follow next year that would bring the total number back to “pre-surge” levels by the Summer of 2008.

“I believe that we will be able to reduce our forces to the pre-surge level … by next summer without jeopardising the security gains we have fought so hard to achieve.”

He said that a “premature drawdown of our forces would likely have devastating consequences.”

Civilian fatalities

Petraeus said that the security situation had improved, particularly in the Western province of Anbar, but acknowledged that the number of civilian deaths was still too high and of “obvious concern.”

As Petraeus was addressing congress there were reports from the military that nine US soldiers had been killed in Iraq, including seven personnel in a vehicle accident in western Baghdad.

Congress also heard testimony from Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Iraq, who said, although he could not guarantee “success” in Iraq, he believed “it is still possible to to achieve a stable, democratic Iraq at peace with its neighbours”.

But he warned it would be slow coming and said a new Iraq had to be built “from scratch”.

Crocker also said that Iran “will be a winner” if the US leaves in Iraq by consolidating the country’s influence over the country and its resources.

Hecklers repeatedly shouted during the hearing and were ordered to be evicted from the chamber by Ike Skelton, the representative chairing the proceedings.

Skelton opened the session by welcoming attendees to “probably the most important hearing of the year.”

Leaks ahead of Petraeus’ testimony exacerbated sharp political divisions in the US and Petraeus began his speech stressingthe testimony was his own and had not been shown to anyone in the Pentagon or White House prior to it being distributed to congress.

Addressing congress before Petraeus’ testimony, Tom Lantos, a senior democrat, described the Bush administration’s policy in Iraq as “myopic”.

‘Fiasco’

“The majority of this congress and the American people want our troops out,” he said.

“The administration’s myopic policy in Iraq have created a fiasco.”

George Bush, the US president, has repeatedly asked for congress and the American people to listen to the evidence in the hearing before making any judgements on his administration’s strategy in Iraq.

Kimberly Halkett, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Washington, said the president had great faith in Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador in Iraq who is also due to give testimony, and was allegedly not going to listen to the hearing.

Petraeus fulfilled predictions that he would ask for more time to fully implement his strategy and approve a partial troop withdrawal.

‘Political bone’

Josh Rushing, Al Jazeera’s military analyst, said the offer to bring home US troops was a “political bone”.

He said: “The army can’t sustain the deployment they have now without changing the rotation system.

“So he’s looking at having to draw down by next spring. They are overstretched.”

Zibakalam Sadegh, a professor of political science at Tehran university, dismissed claims by Crocker that Iran would benefit from continued instability in Iraq.

“Whatever has gone wrong and whenever there are security failures they keep blaming Iran for that,” he told Al Jazeera.

“None of the American leaders have ever been able to answer the simple question of ‘what has Iran to gain from insecurity in Iraq?’.

“Indeed Iran has everything to gain from a stable Iraq.”

Further congressional hearings will take place on Tuesday when the two men will discuss whether the overall strategy in the country is working.aljazeera

, Voice of a Nation

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