It is not only the Democrats who are questioning the Pet General's rosy scenario. Senator Lugar, a most distinguished Republican , took C&P to task today, along with Senators Hagel, Coleman and Murkowski.

Rebecca, memphis tenn., USA

Are you people living in a time warp? Are you aware that this war has been going on for almost five years. Petraeus is not a hero, he is part of the problem. The American Generals have been a go along to get along bunch and have been the large part of America's failure. A hero would have challenged four years of failing tactics about four years ago. Weak Generals like Petraeus have cost us 3,700 dead and 27,000 wounded with 12,000 of these maimed. We are still counting. How many more casualties will we have over the next four or five years?

c. perry, Boynton Beach, USA, Florida

This administration and those who still support the invasion of Iraq have stated in their own defense that everyone, Democrats included, believed at the time that Saddam Hussein had wmd's and that regardless of the fact that this was ultimately proven to be largely overstated if not entirely wrong, the invasion clearly appeared justified to all at the time for this reason. Democrats and their kind shared the blame by not being critical enough of the presented facts, so the argument goes.

I have no doubt that both General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker are honorable men just as I have no doubt that Colin Powell is an honorable man. Unfortunately men can be both honorable and wrong.

Although one can argue about the choice of words, I think the skeptics at yesterday's committee hearings should be applauded by both sides of the issue. Had skepticism originally been encouraged rather than shouted down, perhaps America would not find itself in a situation that no one sought.

Nick Vasile, Yardville, NJ

It is ironic when Josef of Cape Elizabeth, Maine USA is critical of politicians dubious of General Petraeus stay the course logic, saying they "...must be experts in the art of war", obviously not knowing of Sun Tzu who wrote the book entitled The Art of War. The fundamental message in that famous text is that you will certainly be defeated in war unless you both know yourself, and your enemy.

It is pointless by this time pointing out to such as Josef all the falsehoods under which the war was fabricated, but it is useful to note how little we know of our "enemy" because we define it in terms of abstractions and slogans such as Islamofacism, which is not an enemy that can be known. That is merely an epithet. Our real enemy is chaos but we are spreading chaos most effectively, and its kind of hard to know chaos. The longer the occupation, the greater the shattering of Iraq into smaller and smaller units, the greater the resulting chaos and the worse the ultimate blowback. Great.

Tarquinis, Seattle, USA

These things are always political soapboxes for elected officials. I watched the start of it. Skelton went on and on. I took a shower, checked email, let the dog out, folded some laundry, came back, and that blowhard was still talking making his own political statement. Time which could have been better used listening to the General. As for the protesters. Early on the camera showed the ushers seating two rows of people with "generals lie..children die" shirts on. Now c'mon! Call me stupid....but who let these people in out of all the ones that could have been there? I'll tell ya who. The same ones that made a big show of getting them out! It served the democrats purpose. No..its not odd that the democrats turned on this man after supporting him unaminously...its just democrats!!!

Murph, Madisonville, USA/KY

Mmmm statistics,how about over 60% of the world thinks thinks this was a prefabricated fiasco and should stop now.Of course the report shows improvement otherwise we would see the carnage reported in the news wouldnt we?I may have missed the part of the statistics about the numbers of Iraqi citizens who have been killed or are we still not counting them,after all if you are bringing democracy to people shouldnt they be allowed to know the cost?

JohnP, Newcastle, UK

Terrorists - " They're nowhere, They're everywhere, they're evil, they're from the dark side and can only be stopped by good. They live in caves somewhere on the other side of the world, unkown and come out in the dark thirsty for innocent blood. They may be among us now or maybe under your bed ! ".
-Really, being serious for a minute this is the essence of the story both the british and american government has told without the clever words and public hand gestures. Quite honestly as a society if we as a majority arwe able to belive such stories they we deserve to be manipulated and lied too.

Lewis Day, london, middlesex

The General and the Ambassador have bought the US time. Time to create a consensus on its national security policy. It sits now in a hydra between the wreckage of its pentagon's transformation strategy and its state department's performance dialectics. Within its White House lies a vacuum created by its Acting President and recently departed rasputin who have paralyzed it in ways that only Al Qaeda could dream. Somewhere among the new performers of both parties lies the person who will cut this knot. That person will have the men who won today to be give thanks.

Bill Keller, BASKING RIDGE, New Jersey

The military was politicized when our delusional and incompetent President and his neoconservative puppeteers misled the nation into war under false pretenses against the wrong country and then incompetently conducted that war, and demonized any one who dared question their rationale, motives or strategy for launching war in Iraq.

What the anti-war community is saying about General Patreus and the war in Iraq now is nothing compared to the slime that the administration and its allies said about anyone who dared question them, including respected military professionals who dared offer a different opinion about how to proceed.

I don't doubt General Patreus' integrity or his honesty, but I do doubt his ability to convey accurately to himself, to Congress and to the American people an objective appraisal of the Iraq War and the surge.

Even if he were objective, our incompetent and fantasist President, the self-described "decider", will continue down his road of delusion.

Dan W., Santa Monica, California, USA

It seems that you haven't got the word over there yet. The Petraeus report was written in the white house.
Somebody please tell Jerry Baker.

Publius, Pittsburgh, US

Maybe the British and their attitude was right after all and the Irquis need to be left to their own will and fate. Basra is relativley calm now.

Max, Houston, Texas, US

The sad thing here is that the Democrats are determined that the war must be lost at all costs, and want to deny anything that shows the slightest hint of improvement. I don't much like what Bush has done in Iraq, but where the generals try to do their job, then it's unacceptable for the Democrats to publicly attack and slander them. That's plain pathetic.

Doug, Glasgow,

I.m just wondering how many stars do the politicians have on their shoulders especially the ones attacking Gen Petraeus? obviously they must be experts in the art of war, far better soldier than the General! tragically they are not and they just sound like what they probably are idiots, unfortunately idiots with power. If we do not stop the terrorist over there for sure they will be knocking on doors over here and it would not be to sell cosmetics.

josef, cape elizabeth, maine Usa

Basra seems to be doing fine without the UK in town.

phil Greene, houston, us/Tx

The Democrats unfortunately have a foreign policy agenda other than the interests of their country. This is an expression of their moral and intellectual degeneracy. As you indicate, the risks of politicising the US military cannot be underestimated and, since commentators have recently been drawing parallels between America's perceived decline and that of the Roman Empire, the Democrats would be well-advised to note that there was an extended period between the end of the Roman republic and that decline in which the military dominated political life not, many would say, in the best interests of civilised life. The outrageous and reckless manoeuvring by the Democrats and their blindness to the real foreign threats to the USA and the civilised world which it protects are likely to lead in the same direction.

Derek, Shanghai,

I don't agree with the army's stop loss policy. Our son got home from Iraq Nobember 2006 after one year deployment. He is scheduled to get out of the army January 8th 2008. However, his unit is being redeployed in December of this year. One month before he was to get out. He along with 700 others who were to get out of the army were told they have to go back to Iraq for a year to fifteen months. I support our troops and appreciate all they do, but let's let these men and women get out as scheduled instead of keeping them against their will. Our son has a wife and a two year old daughter which he would like to see grow up and not in pictures or videos.
Susie,
A scared and loving mom

Susie Sowers, Casper, WY