Bush to press case against cutting Iraq force

(Via Reuters.)

The top U.S. officials in Iraq will testify on the war for a second day to Congress on Wednesday as the Bush administration makes its case against a big troop pull-out.

Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker will argue the United States risks losing ground to al Qaeda in Iraq if it withdraws too many troops out of the war zone too quickly.

Leading Democrats, including the party’s contenders in the November presidential election, advocate beginning a process to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq and to focus more attention on fighting al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Petraeus told the Senate on Tuesday he wanted to halt troop withdrawals after a current drawdown ends in July, leaving around 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. President George W. Bush has said he would back such a recommendation.