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US General David Petraeus passes out during Senate testimony

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

American General David Petraeus passed out briefly while testifying in the Senate.
Image: Lorie L. Jewell.
The general appears to be doing very much better.

—Sen. Carl Levin, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee

While testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, General David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, passed out briefly while answering a question from Senator John McCain from Arizona.

While answering the question, Petraeus slumped over in mid-sentence and the hearing was immediately suspended while several people rushed over from the table to help him. Shortly after, Gen. Petraeus regained consciousness and walked from the hearing room under his own power.

The chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Michigan Senator Carl Levin said the general "appears to be doing very much better." The senator also said that Petraeus was eating and may have been dehydrated, and that the hearing might resume. Petraeus was testifying on the Afghanistan War.

After a short time, Petraeus returned from the room he was in, smiling and sipping from a cup. Though the hearing was resumed briefly, given the circumstances, Levin postponed the hearing until Wednesday. As the hearing closed, McCain called the general one of the "nation's heroes" and also said "we're glad you have recovered and look forward to seeing you again tomorrow." As Levin sounded the gavel that closed the hearing for the day, applause broke out.

Some people have speculated that Petraeus passed out because of McCain's questions, as the General slumped over while answering McCain. However, later General Petraeus said "It wasn't Sen. McCain's questions. I just got dehydrated."


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Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

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