David Petraeus, the commanding general in charge of multinational forces in Iraq, spent much of yesterday answering questions from US senators, including the three presidential candidates.

Some of what was said was a rerun of Petraeus' trip to Capital Hill about a year ago, advocating the Bush Administration's troop surge, which was intended to stabilize the country long enough for a political solution to take hold.

That hasn't happened. Petraeus asked senators to put the troop pullout on pause for part of the summer so he could re-evaluate the situation. Whoever is elected to be the next US president could end up asking the same set of questions a year from now.

Here's what Obama, Clinton, and McCain asked of him yesterday.

Laying down the law

If everything pans out and St. John Fisher College does indeed start a law school in downtown Rochester, that's even more good news for the city.

Media reports say that the college is in line for a $2.5 million allocation from the State Senate to get the school off the ground. The college hopes that allocation, in turn, attracts additional funding for the venture.

The city stands to gain in a couple of ways. Rochester is the only major Upstate city whose colleges do not have a law program. The Fisher school means that graduates from Fisher, Nazareth, University of Rochester, SUNY Geneseo, and Brockport wouldn't have to leave the area if they want a law degree. And in an area that prides itself on the number of colleges it has, that's important.

Also, it would draw more people downtown. Maybe not many, but every bit helps - small numbers add up over time. And that's on top of the new Paetec and ESL projects.

No site has been selected for the law schools and it's certainly not too late for Fisher officials to decide they don't want the school in the city. Other local institutions, the UR for example, have decided against starting law schools in the past. Fisher's plans are by no means a done deal.