4/8/08

title:
current event

who:Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, and Sens
what:The emotional debate over the war will once again dominate presidential politics when all three candidates have opportunities to question the top U.S. general in Iraq during congressional hearings Tuesday.

when:4/8/08

where:WASHINGTON

why:Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, and Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the two rivals for the Democratic nomination, will share the spotlight when Army Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the top U.S. diplomat in Iraq, testify.
McCain and Clinton will question Petraeus and Crocker -- and possibly advocate their positions on whether U.S. troops should be withdrawn -- when they appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday morning. McCain is the committee's top Republican.

how:Petraeus is expected to recommend a pause in the withdrawal of troops from Iraq after July, when the troop levels will be lowered to roughly the number deployed before President Bush agreed to a "surge" of troops into the country in early 2007.
Despite the war being hugely unpopular, McCain has been a strong advocate of continuing the U.S. deployment, arguing that a precipitous departure would permit Iraq to fall into chaos.