WASHINGTON (AP) - The top military commander in Iraq faces a disapproving public and the next commander in chief during congressional testimony that could help shape November's campaign.
All three presidential candidates - Sens. John McCain, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama - sit on committees that are to receive status reports Tuesday on the war's progress from Army Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker.
Rarely does a congressional event draw them all off the closely fought campaign trail. But the general's appearance handed them an opportunity to restate their position on the Iraq war while interacting with the military brass one of them will command come January.
McCain, R-Ariz., and Clinton, D-N.Y., serve on the Armed Services Committee, which will hear from Petraeus and Crocker in the morning. Obama, D-Ill., alone serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which scheduled an afternoon round of testimony.
McCain, the senior Republican on the Armed Services panel, supports the war and praises Petraeus. McCain on Monday told an audience of mostly veterans about improvements in Iraq and argued that the United States must not leave; public opinion is against a sustained fight. He said promises by his Democratic rivals to withdraw forces from Iraq, regardless of the consequences, amounted to a "failure of leadership."
"The question for the next president is not about the past, but about the future and how to secure it," McCain said.
Obama's advisers said he also intends to focus his statements and questions on the future in Iraq, such as whether the war is making Americans safer, how it has affected the military's ability to respond to threats around the world and whether Iraqis are taking responsibility for their country.
Obama, who is ahead of Clinton in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, won't get his turn to speak until near the end of the day. Only four Democrats rank lower than him on the Foreign Relations Committee, but aides said he planned to attend most of the hearing to hear Petraeus.
Clinton's spokesman said she expects the committee will question Petraeus and Crocker closely on the lack of political progress in Iraq, the rising influence of Iran in the region and the strain on the military caused by the large numbers of troops serving in Iraq.
