The top US military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, is calling for an end to US troop withdrawals after July. Appearing before two Senate committees alongside US Ambassador Ryan Crocker, General Petraeus said troops need to say in Iraq to protect what he called the gains of the so-called “surge.” Petraeus told lawmakers the security situation in Iraq has improved since last year’s buildup of troops but said the gains are “fragile and reversible.”

General David Petraeus: “As events in the past two weeks have reminded us and as I have repeatedly cautioned, the progress made since last spring is fragile and reversible. Still, security in Iraq is better than it was when Ambassador Crocker and I reported to you last September. And it is significantly better than it was fifteen months ago when Iraq was on the brink of civil war and the decision was made to deploy additional forces to Iraq.”

Petraeus’s plan would leave 140,000 US troops in Iraq — more than before the so-called “surge.”