Petraeus Testimony Field Manual

By Spencer Ackerman 04/04/2008

On Tuesday, Gen. David H. Petraeus will update Congress on the status of the Iraq war. The general is so respected as a military officer that his September run through the Capitol Hill gauntlet effectively deflated political opposition to continuing the war and forestalled Democratic calls for withdrawal. The surge received a congressional reprieve after his testimony.

Now the surge is over -- the final additional brigades are just leaving Iraq -- and Petraeus' goal is different: halting troop reductions amid a rising tide of violence from terrorists, insurgents and militias.

The leading Democrats in Congress, well aware of the political potency of Petraeus' last round of testimony, are already sending the general the message that he'll face tougher questioning in this election year. But with all the talk about what questions Petraeus is likely to face next week, less attention has been paid to what the general's potential answers could be -- and what his comments could indicate about the war and the politics of continuing it.