INSTANT VIEW-Petraeus gives Iraq progress report
WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The number of U.S. troops in Iraq could fall to about 130,000 by next summer, the total before this year's build-up, but it is too early to say when it may go lower, Gen. David Petraeus said on Monday.
Petraeus, facing Democratic lawmakers demanding a quick end to the U.S. involvement in Iraq, outlined a path to restore the lower troop levels without jeopardizing security improvements he said were taking place.
The following is reaction to Petraeus' comments at a congressional hearing.
SEN. FRANK LAUTENBERG, DEMOCRAT OF NEW JERSEY
"Today's testimony merely puts a new face on the same old results. While the White House writes a sunny forecast on a dim outlook, the reality is that we have seen scant progress in Iraq. Americans are still dying at the rate of almost three a day and the war's costs have ballooned to almost $12 billion per month.
"While the violence continues, the Iraqi government has failed to meet even their own standards of progress. The American people have been clear: it is time for the President to change course in Iraq and to bring our troops home."
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, REPUBLICAN OF KENTUCKY
"We made a substantial commitment of forces and finances to the Iraq war and to just give up with a sense of hopelessness and walk away seems to me is highly irresponsible. It's doubly irresponsible now that there is clear evidence that some success is occurring. Why would we want to make it more likely that we would have another 9-11 experience by signaling to our enemies that we are going to give up and go home?"
CARLOS PASCUAL, ANALYST WITH THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION, A THINK TANK
"Both Crocker and Petraeus are making the bet that increased political cooperation on a local level (in Iraq) can translate into some form of national political cooperation. I think it's a pretty slim bet because the cooperation that we have seen locally has been fundamentally about local interests and has been dominantly in Sunni areas where there has been a common enemy -- al Qaeda in Iraq.
REP. EDWARD MARKEY, DEMOCRATIC OF MASSACHUSETTS
"President Bush's latest Potemkin village fabricated to mask his failed Iraq policy is a 'Petraeus village.' It is clear that the Petraeus village is just a facade to hide from view the continuing failure of the Bush Administration's strategy in Iraq."
