Do you understand the command and control relationships between the American and Iraqi forces in this new plan? I am very concerned about unity of command.

Are you confident that they will be?

Will all five brigades be massed simultaneously or is there some other plan to have all five brigades move more slowly into Baghdad?

I do believe at this point that our presence can help and is needed.

Victory is achieved when the populace consents to the government's legitimacy and stops actively and passively supporting the insurgency.

I wish General Petraeus the very best.

You were a young officer following our defeat in the Vietnam War. Would you contemplate the effects of defeat in Iraq as compared with an additional, very difficult strain on our men and women in the military who are having to serve more…

I think we have arrived at a point where in fact we do need to help them a bit more in providing security.

You are being asked to square the circle, to find a military solution to a political crisis.

But we did so in response to the President's comments to the Nation on the 10th of this month, and I read from his transcript:

This hearing is on whether or not this officer has the professional credentials to fulfill this assignment requested by the President of the United States.