In April 9, 2008 testimony, Gen. David Petraeus discusses the reasons for war, al Qaeda, and the definition of success in Iraq.
REP. WEXLER (D-FL): "What has all this been for? And please, respectfully, don't tell us, as you told Senator Warner yesterday, to remove a brutal dictator. That's not good enough. ...
"For what did Stuart Wolfer and the other 4,024 sons and daughters die for? And how will we define victory so that we can bring this never-ending war to a close?
"And if I will, when Mr. Burton asks for a definition of what is failure, we get a litany of items! But when Mr. Ackerman asks 'what's the definition of victory,' we get little. Please tell us, General: what is winning?"
GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS: "First of all, Congress, let me tell you that what we are fighting for is national interests. It is interests that, as I stated, have to do with al Qaeda, a sworn enemy of the United States and the free world.
"It has to do with the possible spread of sectarian conflict in Iraq, a conflict that had engulfed that country and had it on the brink of civil war.
"It has to do with regional stability of a region that is of critical importance to the global economy.
"And it has to do with certainly the influence of Iran, another obviously very important element in that region.
"In terms of what it is that we are trying to achieve, I think simply it is a country that is at peace with itself and its neighbors.
"It is a country that can defend itself.
"That has a government that is reasonably representative and broadly responsive to its citizens.
"And a country that is involved in, engaged in, again, the global economy.
"Ambassador Crocker and I, for what it's worth, have typically seen ourselves as minimalists. We're not after the Holy Grail in Iraq. We're not after Jeffersonian democracy. We're after conditions that would allow our soldiers to disengage. And that is in fact what we are doing as we achieve progress, as we have with the surge and that is what is indeed allowing us to withdraw the surge forces.
"Again, well over one quarter of our ground combat power, five of twenty brigade combat teams, plus two marine battalions and the Marine expeditionary unit by the end of July."
WEXLER: "Thank you."
Tags: Petraeus Wexler Iraq surge hearing
