FACTBOX-Congressional reaction to Petraeus testimony
Source: Reuters
Sept 10 (Reuters) - Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told the House of Representatives on Monday that the number of U.S. troops there could fall to 130,000 by next summer but that it is too early to say when it may go lower. Following are some quotes from lawmakers at the hearing: ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN IKE SKELTON, A MISSOURI DEMOCRAT: "General Petraeus who sits here before us is almost certainly the right man for the job in Iraq. But he's the right person three years too late and 250,000 troops short. If we had your vision and approach early on we might not have gotten to the point where our troops are caught in the midst of brutal sectarian fighting." ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE RANKING MEMBER DUNCAN HUNTER, A CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN: "The idea that this Congress is going to arbitrarily overlay a requirement for a reduction in American forces when we are moving toward a maturing of the Iraqi forces and a successful handoff which will be a victory for the United States, I think should not be supported by this body." FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN TOM LANTOS, A CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT: "Our witnesses have been sent here to restore credibility to a discredited policy. ... We need to send Maliki's government a message loud and clear. Removing a brigade is nothing but a political whisper and it is unacceptable to the American people and to the majority of Congress." FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE RANKING MEMBER ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, A FLORIDA REPUBLICAN: "For all who have served and died defending what our nation holds dear, I hope that we too rise to the occasion and not let them down by precipitously withdrawing from the fight before the mission is truly accomplished." NEW JERSEY REPUBLICAN REP. JIM SAXTON: "The questions are these: No. 1, will we leave the Iraqis celebrating freedom, or 2, will we leave the forces of evil and terror to carry out their mission in and from Iraq? I'm concerned that if some get their way, we'll get No. 2, the latter." NEW YORK DEMOCRATIC REP. GARY ACKERMAN: "It seems to me that we're trying to be in the middle of a dysfunctional, violent family. And the question that I first think about is: Can we afford to put a cop in every bad marriage, especially when the parties aren't even showing up for counseling?
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