The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Washington

Anti-war Democrats accused the White House of plotting to saddle the next president with a "quagmire" in Iraq, as General David Petraeus, the head of the US-led forces in the country, faced a second day of scrutiny in Congress.

On the fifth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, Petraeus and US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker on Wednesday spoke to two committees in the House of Representatives. They faced a similar grilling in the Senate on Tuesday.

President George W. Bush's spokeswoman meanwhile left little doubt that he would back the general's call for freezing US troop withdrawals for at least 45 days after July in a national speech on Iraq policy Thursday.

Bush is also set to announce a return to shorter 12-month tours for US army troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, ending 15-month tours that have strained the force, a US defense official said speaking on condition of anonymity.

The White House said he will give a speech on Iraq and US troop levels at 11:30 am (1530 GMT). Democratic Senate Majority leader Harry Reid did not wait for Bush to speak, demanding changes to a war plan that looks set in stone for the rest of this presidency.