All three White House hopefuls will get the chance to question
Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, who told Congress that
the security gains in Iraq were what he called "fragile and
reversible."  Jon Decker reports.

At a long-awaited Senate hearing that focused exclusively on the results of
a year-old U.S. troop build-up in Iraq, Arizona Sen. John McCain, the
presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said he sees a genuine prospect
of success in Iraq and warned that defeat could require U.S. troops to return
in a broader war.

 Senator John McCain, presidential candidate, saying:
"Should the United States instead choose to withdraw from Iraq
before adequate security is established , we will exchange for this victory a
defeat that is terrible and long-lasting."

McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has
staked much of his presidential campaign on the success of the U.S. war effort
in Iraq.

Senator John McCain, presidential candidate, saying:
"Since the middle of last year, sectarian and ethnic violence,
civilian deaths and deaths of coalition forces have all fallen dramatically.
This improved security environment has led to a new opportunity, one in which
average Iraqis can in the future approach a more normal political and economic
life."

All three White House hopefuls will get the chance to question Gen. David
Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, who told Congress that the security
gains in Iraq were what he called "fragile and reversible".

Jon Decker, Reuters.