Underscoring the Democrats’ economic points, Pelosi asked why U.S. military in Iraq and Americans back home are paying more for gasoline than the Iraqis are. Pelosi warns Petraeus on Iraq testimony

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) warned Army Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on Thursday not to "put a shine on recent events” in Iraq when they testify before Congress next week.

“I hope we don’t hear any glorification of what happened in Basra,” said Pelosi, referring to a recent military offensive against Shiite militants in the city led by the Iraqi government and supported by U.S. forces.


Although powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr agreed to a ceasefire after six days of fighting, Pelosi wondered why the U.S. was caught off guard by the offensive and questioned how the ceasefire was achieved, saying the terms were "probably dictated from Iran.”

“We have to know the real ground truths of what is happening there, not put a shine on events because of a resolution that looks less violent when in fact it has been dictated by al-Sadr, who can grant or withhold that call for violence,” Pelosi said.

Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, and Crocker, the U.S. ambassador, will make their return to Capitol Hill on April 8 and 9 to deliver their assessment of the situation on the ground in Iraq.

So far, Petraeus and Crocker have made very few public comments about the situation in Basra, but many Republicans have hailed it as an example of the Iraqi government standing up and further proof that President Bush’s troop surge is working.

Republicans took issue Thursday with the notion that Petraeus would use events in Iraq to advance a political agenda.

"Gen. Petraeus ... is not a political figure," said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). "The testimony he gives reflects the facts on the ground. If he reports that the security situation in Iraq is improving, as we hope he does, he will be echoing the assessment of many Democratic House members who have visited Iraq recently. Our priorities should be learning the facts and acting on them, not using any development as a pretext for irresponsible withdrawal."

Pelosi held a press conference Thursday morning with House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) to preview their message ahead of the visit from Petraeus and Crocker.

The Democrats hammered two themes: The war in Iraq has stretched the military dangerously thin, and the enormous cost of the war is threatening the health of the U.S. economy.

"The stretch and strain on our military is like never before," said Skelton. "I am terribly worried about this."

Underscoring the Democrats’ economic points, Pelosi asked why the U.S. military in Iraq and Americans back home are paying more for gasoline than the Iraqis are.

“Our troops in Iraq are paying about $3.25 a gallon for gas in Iraq, comparable to what we pay here, while the Iraqis are paying $1.36 a gallon,” Pelosi said. “This is a raw deal for the American taxpayer.”

The Democrats appeared skeptical they were going to hear anything new from Petraeus and Crocker.

“Every event in Iraq seems to be a justification [by the administration] for more troops, more time and more money in Iraq,” said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the Democratic Caucus chairman. “We are in a policy cul du sac. We just keep going around and around in circles.”

Neither Pelosi nor Skelton addressed questions about what will be included in a supplemental war funding bill Congress is expected to take up later this month, explaining that they wanted to focus on the upcoming Petraeus-Crocker testimony instead.