White House: Petraeus will testify

The White House on Thursday sought to alleviate concerns that Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker would not testify before Congress, as Democrats ratcheted up their rhetoric on the issue.

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters in Crawford, Texas, that stories indicating Petraeus and Crocker would not testify openly before Congress were inaccurate.

{mosads}“General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will testify to the Congress in both open as well as closed sessions prior to the September 15th report,” he said. “I think it’s unfortunate that anyone would suggest that they would not do that, trying to start a fight where there really isn’t one, because this has always been the plan, and in fact it's even called for in the legislation.”

At about the same time as the briefing, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) released a statement, saying, “The White House’s effort to prevent General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker from testifying openly and candidly before Congress about the situation in Iraq is unacceptable.”

Johndroe refuted claims that there is any plan other than for the two officials to testify on the situation in Iraq, adding that no restrictions would be placed upon them.

“I think everyone expects Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus to offer a very candid assessment of the situation on the ground in Iraq,” he said. “I know that’s what President Bush expects; that’s what the American people expect. And so, no, I don’t think there will be any constraints in their testimony whatsoever.”