Nomination Of General Petraeus

Floor Speech

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, the Senate's confirmation hearing for Gen. David Petraeus is now underway. Seeing Gen. Petraeus should remind all of us of the successful counterinsurgency campaign he led in Iraq and of the sacrifices made by coalition forces there before and after the surge of forces in 2007. Regimental and brigade combat teams protected the population and fought hard battles while a counterterrorism campaign, led by General McChrystal, was conducted against insurgent leaders.

Today's hearing also reminds us of the divisive debate that preceded that successful counterinsurgency campaign and of the skepticism and criticisms leveled against General Petraeus by some of our colleagues across the aisle at the time.

Fortunately, the critics did not prevail, either in their attacks on General
Petraeus or in their calls for a hasty withdrawal of troops based on political timelines rather than the security and stability of Iraq.

If we learned anything from that debate, it is that our national security and the stability of the region outweigh short-term political calculations.

It is clear that our Nation's efforts must be integrated in Afghanistan, just as they were in Iraq. It is worth remembering our forces in Afghanistan have been conducting a counterterrorism campaign for more than 8 years, and this has been insufficient to keep the Taliban from regaining the momentum in Afghanistan. American and Afghan security forces must do more to ensure the Afghan populace that it will be protected, something undermined by withdrawal deadlines.

The surge of forces into Afghanistan ordered by the President is not yet complete. General Petraeus is the right General to command this operation and he should be confirmed quickly.

Madam President, my understanding is that the senior Senator from Washington has a unanimous-consent request she would like to propound.

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