WASHINGTON — Iraq war policy returns to the forefront this week as President Bush sends his top deputies in Baghdad to testify on Capitol Hill.
In hearings in both the Senate and House, Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker likely will lay the groundwork for the administration's push for a $100 billion check from Congress to pay for operations through September while trying to convince Democrats that the Pentagon should put a temporary hold on further troop withdrawals.
But even as the two prepare their testimony for hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday, Democratic leaders in Congress say they want to cut war spending, reduce the burden on U.S. forces in Iraq and increase the military focus on Afghanistan.
"We must shift to what General Petraeus has termed a posture of strategic overwatch so that we create additional incentives for the Iraqis to embrace political accommodation which will allow us to reduce U.S. troop levels substantially and devote more of our resources to a number of other important national security challenges," wrote House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid a letter also signed by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin.
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