Altmire returns from Iraq, still wants withdrawal timeline

U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, returned from Iraq and a meeting with Gen. David Petraeus today with praise for the effort of the U.S. military but disappointment with the Iraqi government. "The political leadership in Iraq has not only failed to make progress in nearly every measureable way, but in many cases they have gone backward," he told reporters upon his arrival at Pittsburgh International Airport. "This is why I have never been more certain that our best strategy for success in Iraq remains imposing a timeline on American involvement to show the Iraqis, once and for all, that they must make the necessary political accommodations and not continue to depend on the American military to referee their internal disputes." Rep. Altmire, who spent 22 hours in Iraq as part of a four-member congressional delegation, said he hoped that Gen. Petraeus' Sept. 15 report on conditions there will help Congress and President Bush develop "a strategy in Iraq that is in the best interest of the American people and especially the brave men and women who are serving this country so honorably."