Democrats say Iraq diverts focus from al Qaeda

By Kristin Roberts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States cannot defeat the bigger threat to its security posed by al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan while it remains tied down in Iraq, Democrats told the top U.S. officials on Iraq on Wednesday.

In a second day of testimony to Congress, Gen. David Petraeus, U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker said an increase of combat power had reduced violence and that Iraqi factions were moving, if slowly, toward reconciliation.

But Democrats rejected the progress as too little, too late. They said President George W. Bush, who began the war five years ago and who will leave office in January with more than 100,000 troops still there, had failed to focus on the bigger threat of al Qaeda from the Afghan-Pakistan border.

"Protecting this nation from direct attack is job number one, yet our allocation of forces does not match this imperative," said Rep. Ike Skelton, chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.

"The effort in Iraq, however important, is putting at risk our ability to decisively defeat those most likely to attack us," the Missouri Democrat said.

Petraeus said he shared Democrats' desire to end the war, but that al Qaeda remained focused on Iraq and relentless pressure was needed to keep the group from gaining ground.

"Those of us who have been at this a long time obviously want the war to end as much as anybody else, perhaps maybe more," he said. "What we want to do is come home the right way without jeopardizing the gains we fought to achieve."

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An increase in violence has driven Iraq back to the forefront of U.S. campaigns for the presidential elections.

While Democrats used the hearings to criticize the Bush administration's war policy, Petraeus and Crocker also heard criticism from Republicans angry that Iraq had not taken on a greater share of the conflict's cost.

Crocker said he understood the concern. But he said he did not know if the United States would force Iraq to take on a larger share of the cost in the formal strategic framework document being drafted to define the two states' relationship.

"Let me make the suggestion that the next time we ask you the question the answer is yes," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican. "If not, there's going to be trouble on the Republican side as well as the Democratic side in getting support for an ongoing conflict."

The United States has 160,000 troops in Iraq after boosting the force last year in a bid to reduce violence enough to allow Iraqi lawmakers to enact measures seen as critical to long-term stability.

The Pentagon has begun to pull about 20,000 of those extra combat troops out. Once that pullout is finished in July, the U.S. force in Iraq will stand at 140,000, officers have said.

Then Petraeus plans to freeze force levels for 45 days before assessing whether the security situation will allow more reductions. On Wednesday, he said security in four or five areas might allow more troops to come home.