Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, President Bush’s “war czar” nominee, Lieutenant General Douglas Lute, explained reports he had doubted the administration’s plans for a so-called troop surge in Iraq.

Lieutenant General Douglas Lute: “I expressed concerns in the policy development phase, as you mentioned in your opening remarks, that this not be simply a one-dimensional surge — that is, a military only. We have taken steps on other dimensions inside the U.S. government. And the Iraqi government has taken some steps to demonstrate that it understands that it must surge, if you will, alongside of us. I’d assess at this point that the Iraqi participation in the surge has been uneven so far. And I think we’re in the early days. And time will tell.”

Lute went on to testify that National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley would no longer play a major role in advising on Iraq and Afghanistan.