Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker urged lawmakers to downplay judging the war by the benchmarks they have set. Speaking from Baghdad, Crocker said that in many cases the benchmarks “do not serve as reliable measures of everything that is important.” Crocker also gave his assessment of the situation on the ground.

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker: “And if there is one word I would use to sum up the atmosphere in Iraq — on the streets, in the countryside, in the neighborhoods and at the national level — that word would be fear.”