Candidates question Petraeus, Crocker; top general asks open-ended pause in troop reductions

The three candidates sit on committees in the upper chamber of the American Congress and have returned to the capital, where Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and the Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker testified and took questions from Senators.

Obama and Clinton propose varying plans to begin removing U.S. forces from the oil-rich country, declaring the five-year-old war has made the United States less safe and is a crippling drain on the American economy. McCain says U.S. forces are succeeding and it would be the "height of irresponsibility" to pull out before Iraqi forces and the government in Baghdad are strong enough to stand on their own.

McCain, the Republican nominee-in-waiting, and Clinton, who is vying to become the first female commander in chief, both serve on the Armed Services Committee, which was hearing from Petraeus and Crocker on Tuesday morning.

Obama, Clinton's Democratic rival who would be the first African American in the White House, serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which scheduled an afternoon round of testimony.

In opening remarks before the Armed Services panel, Petraeus said he would recommend to U.S. President George W. Bush that that the current drawdown of troops be put on hold for 45 days after July, when the so-called "surge" force is to have left the country. He refused to commit to a date for restarting the withdrawal.

Petraeus also acknowledged in questioning from McCain and committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, that the Iraqi military operation against militia forces in Basra late last month was poorly planned. He said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who ordered the assault on Basra, sought on minimal consultation with American forces.

Clinton said in an interview Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America," that she planned to highlight her view that the troop buildup had failed to help the Iraqi government.

For his part, Obama told NBC's "Today" show, "The most important issue is still the one that was asked in September," when Petraeus testified before Congress, "which is how has this war made us safer and at what point do we know that there is success so we can start bringing our troops home."

McCain, the senior Republican on the Armed Services panel, told an audience of mostly veterans on Monday about improvements he sees in Iraq and argued that the United States must not leave despite public opinion that is against a sustained fight. He slammed his Democratic opponents' plans to pull troops out of Iraq.

"To promise a withdrawal of our forces from Iraq, regardless of the calamitous consequences to the Iraqi people, our most vital interests, and the future of the Middle East, is the height of irresponsibility," he said. "It is a failure of leadership."

Petraeus and Crocker took over U.S. military and diplomatic leadership in Iraq more than a year ago.

Obama has accumulated more delegates, won more primary and caucus contests and leads in the popular vote against Clinton. The latest AP tally of delegates showed Obama with 1,638 to Clinton's 1,502, including superdelegates _ party leaders and elected officials who are free to vote for whichever Democrat they want.

A new Quinnipiac University poll of Pennsylvania voters showed Hillary Rodham Clinton's previously large lead over Obama had shrunk to 50-44 percentage points.

Two weeks before the Pennsylvania primary, Clinton's lead has dropped from a 9-point advantage a week ago and 12 percentage points in mid-March.

Obama remains more popular among the state's black voters, 75 percent to 17 percent, and Clinton does better among whites, 56 percent to 38 percent. As in past surveys, Clinton leads among older voters and Obama leads among younger ones.

The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted by telephone from April 3-6.

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