Updated on
Summary
Gen. David Petraeus, head of U.S. forces in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, briefly passed out Tuesday morning during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing and had to be escorted from the room on Capitol Hill.As Sen. John McCain gave an opening statement on the progress in the war in Afghanistan and praised Petraeus for his role in battling the counterinsurgency there, Petraeus leaned his head onto the table in front of him and appeared to nearly lose consciousness.Several uniformed officers from the Pentagon rushed to the general's side as he raised his head up from the table.Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin called a recess and Petraeus stood up and walked to an anteroom with several military officers by his side. After about 30 minutes, Petraeus returned to the chamber, smiling, shaking his head, and throwing his hands in the air self-deprecatingly. It wasn't Senator McCain's questions, Petraeus joked.I just got dehydrated.
