Democratic leaders in the Senate bluntly told the US military commander in Iraq today that President Bush's troop "surge" strategy had failed in its prime objective – to force a political settlement between Iraqi factions.

The day after General David Petraeus told a panel from the House of Representatives that the surge of 28,500 troops was working, and that US forces could begin coming home in December, Democrats demanded a new plan as the gene.

“We should stop the surge and start bringing our troops home,” Joseph Biden, the Senate Foreign Relations committee chairman, said as General Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the US Ambassador to Iraq, prepared to testify before the committee.

The veteran senator and 2008 presidential candidate posed two questions: was Iraq closer to political reconciliation than before the surge began, and would continuing the operation stop the killing between Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims and Kurds.

“Based on my experience and my observation here, as well as in country, the answer to both those questions is no,” Mr Biden said. He branded the surge at best a “stopgap” and called for a reduction of US forces beyond the pre-surge level of around 130,000 troops which General Petraeus said yesterday would be reached again by mid-2008.

General Petraeus and Mr Crocker were appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations committee, and had a date with the chamber’s Armed Services committee later.

Yesterday they endured a gruelling six-hour hearing before corresponding committees in the House, at the start of a pivotal week for US Iraq policy, which will also see President Bush issue a progress report on the war.

Meanwhile, John Kerry, the defeated 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, drew a parallel between the Iraq and Vietnam wars, saying that many of those killed in the earlier conflict had died after the battle strategy was known to have failed.

“We owe our troops a strategy that is worthy of their sacrifice, and it’s clear that the current strategy – the President’s escalation – has failed to achieve its goal of bringing about a resolution of the fundamental conflict between Sunni and Shia,” Mr Kerry said, according to remarks prepared for delivery.

In one of the most eagerly awaited congressional hearings in years, General Petraeus and Mr Crocker were forced to battle interruptions by anti-war protesters to reject claims that Mr Bush’s war plan has failed.

"As a bottom line up front, the military objectives of the surge are in large measure being met,” General Petraeus, bearing a chestful of medal ribbons on his green dress uniform, told Congress.

The general also warned his audience that "a premature draw-down of our forces would likely have devastating consequences".

Today's Senate hearings were being lent extra spice by the expected presence of several 2008 White House hopefuls including the Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who want to end the war, and the Republican John McCain, an outspoken advocate of the strategy.

They also take place on the politically sensitive sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks – for the victims of which the committee observed a moment's silence.

The Iraqi government welcomed the general’s testimony, saying it expects US forces to cut back on combat duties in the near term.

But Iraq’s National Security Advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie cautioned against a quick US withdrawal, saying that Iraq needed coalition soldiers until its own security forces are self-reliant.

The general's testimony also won mixed reviews in the media. The heavyweight New York Times opened fire in a critical editorial, saying that “for months, President Bush has been promising an honest accounting of the situation in Iraq, a fresh look at the war strategy and a new plan for how to extricate the United States from the death spiral of the Iraqi civil war".

"The nation got none of that yesterday."

General Petraeus’s figures

- 45 per cent reduction in civilian deaths across Iraq since December

- 70 per cent reduction in civilian deaths in Baghdad since December

- 55 per cent reduction in ethno-sectarian civilian deaths across Iraq since December

- 80 per cent reduction in ethno-sectarian deaths in Baghdad since December

- 4,400 weapons caches found and destroyed so far this year compared with 2,700 throughout 2006

- 1/3 reduction in Improvised Explosive Device attacks since June

- 200 attacks in Anbar Province this August compared with 1,350 in October 2006

- 5 months of decline in car bombings and suicide attacks across the country

- 90 such attacks in August down from high of 175 in March

- Five al-Qaeda media cells neutralised in past eight months

- The senior Iraqi leader of al-Qaeda-Iraq detained in past eight months

- 100 key al-Qaeda-Iraq leaders killed or captured in past eight months

- 2,500 rank-and-filer fighters killed or captured in past eight month

(Source:General Petraeus's report to Congress)

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