The battle lines in Washington

Re “Petraeus, Democrats square off,” April 9

Put yourself in Army Gen. David H. Petraeus’ shoes. His boss sent him into the Iraq mess when things were desperate, and he now finds himself with two bad choices: He can stay the course and hope for the best, knowing full well that our military, not the Iraqi tribes, is the glue holding that place together, or he can admit that his orders are to hold out until a new administration can be blamed for whatever happens.

Petraeus is a loyal soldier who knows there will be hell to pay when we leave. He, the troops and the American people all deserve better, but while President Bush is in office, we will slog on.

Sheldon J. Baer

Woodland Hills

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Sen. John McCain again misstated, while questioning Petraeus, that Iran (a Shiite nation) is supporting Al Qaeda (a Sunni group) in Iraq. Apparently he is unable to understand that there is a rather substantive ideological difference.

Perhaps he also does not understand how long 100 years is.

Jaoana Dean

Los Angeles

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McCain says that withdrawal from Iraq, under any circumstance or timetable, would be a “failure of leadership.” One can make a strong case that going to war rather than working together with America’s allies to solve a crisis was an even greater failure of leadership.

Jay Cywan

Sherman Oaks

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Spare the taxpayers additional wasted money. Next time Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are scheduled to report to Congress, skip the personal appearances and merely play the tape of the previous testimonies.

Bob Constantine

Placentia