Monday: Military Vs. Democrats

September 9, 2007

Congress is expected this week to pick apart U.S. military data suggesting attacks and civilian casualties in Baghdad have sharply decreased in recent months. Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, is scheduled to testify before Congress beginning Monday, and he is expected to tell lawmakers the troop buildup is producing results.

Petraeus will back the assertion with data indicating a lower incidence of roadside bombs and car bombs in the capital in the months leading up to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins this week. Joined by Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Petraeus will begin his testimony Monday before a joint session of the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees. Petraeus will address the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.

Petraeus spent part of Sunday at the Pentagon completing a final run through before his testimony, a source said. Meanwhile, the methodology the military is using to gauge violence in Baghdad has already come under fire.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, a vocal critic of the war in Iraq, has accused the White House of twisting data to suit its needs. Watch why the Pentagon says there’s “no such thing” as the Petraeus Report. “By carefully manipulating the statistics, the Bush-Petraeus report will try to persuade us that violence in Iraq is decreasing and thus the surge is working,” said the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, addressing a Washington think tank last week.