Petraeus set to give lawmakers his assessment of the war

CAPITOL HILL (AP) - The top American commander in Iraq today gives Congress his long-awaited assessment of the war.

In a letter to his troops previewing today’s appearance, General David Petraeus (puh-TRAY’-uhs) acknowledges the troop surge has not resulted in political progress in Iraq. But he’s likely to tell lawmakers there have been military successes in Baghdad and Anbar Province.

His expected refusal to call for the withdrawal of any troops this year won’t sit well with Democrats. They say a drawdown before the end of the year would make it clear to Iraqi leaders that they need to make political reforms.

Former Defense Secretary Lawrence Korb isn’t expecting to hear too many negatives today. He notes that Petraeus gave an overly optimistic assessment of Iraqi troop training three years ago, when he was in charge of that training.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)