Petraeus Says Iraq Too 'Fragile' for Removing Troops.

Army General David Petraeus told lawmakers today that progress in Iraq is too "fragile and reversible" to allow U.S. troop levels to fall below about 140,000 earlier than September.

Petraeus, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, recommended a 45-day evaluation after the final brigade from last year's "surge" of troop reinforcements into Iraq is withdrawn in July. Only after that period can officials begin to consider further withdrawals, he said. [...]

Iraq's ambassador to the U.S., Samir Sumaida'ie, said any candidate talking about troop withdrawal will be faced, as president, with the reality that seeing the mission through is in the interests not only of Baghdad but also of Washington.

"This is a long recovery from what was a terminal illness," Sumaida'ie said today at a forum in Washington organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Consequences of Invasion

Anthony Cordesman, an analyst at the Washington-based center, said the U.S. has a moral and ethical responsibility for the consequences of its invasion.

About 10 percent of the country's population has come to adulthood in the past five years, and half a generation of Iraqis live with a lack of security and an unemployment or underemployment rate of 50 percent, he said at the forum.

"Regardless of the reasons we went to war or what we may individually think of the war, we cannot afford to ignore the fact that our actions have impacted on an entire nation," Cordesman said.