Iraq

From today's BDN editorial:

Despite tough questions and grim assessments, it remains unclear if Congress can muster support for a change in direction for continued U.S. involvement in Iraq. Requiring Iraq to pay for more of this work ends the era of blank U.S. checks and puts needed pressure on Baghdad to play a larger role in securing and building the country’s future.
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"Isn’t it time for the Iraqis to start bearing more of those expenses, particularly in light of the windfall in revenues due to the high price of oil?" Sen. Susan Collins asked Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq during Tuesday’s Armed Services Committee hearing.

This was another very busy week in Washington. I spent a lot of time meeting with a bipartisan group of Senators seeking a way forward in Iraq. In addition, Senator Ben Nelson, a Democrat from Nebraska, and I continued to talk with our colleagues about our amendment to the Defense Authorization that would require the President to transition the mission of our troops away from combat and instead focus on training and equipping of Iraqi security forces, protecting Iraq's borders, conducting counter-terrorism operations, and safeguarding Americans.

Yesterday's hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee was a somber experience but started off on a light note. When several of us arrived at 2 p.m. to begin the hearing, we found, much to our surprise, that the hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was still going on, long beyond the expected adjournment time. John McCain and I stood in the back of the chamber waiting for the Committee to conclude. As we listened to our colleague, John made the universal sign for talking too much with his hand.

Today is September 11th -- a day that invokes so many memories - both tragic and heroic. I spent much of the morning preparing for General Petraeus' appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee this afternoon.