Gen. David Petraeus said President Barack Obama’s Afghanistan drawdown plan was “more aggressive” than military commanders recommended, but he supported the president’s decision.

Petraeus’ remarks came Thursday during his Senate confirmation hearing to be the next CIA director, less than 24 hours after Obama announced he would remove 33,000 surge troops from Afghanistan by the end of next summer.

Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Adm. Mike Mullen and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also backed Obama’s plan in Capitol Hill appearances earlier Thursday.

For days leading to the announcement, reports had surfaced that Obama would reject the advice of his generals by favoring a quicker withdrawal.

Petraeus said Obama’s decision removes troops faster than he, Mullen and Central Command’s Gen. James Mattis had wanted, but he presented the president with a range of options.

Petraeus told Sen. Carl Levin, D.-Mich., that some had called for him to resign in opposition to the president’s decision.

“Our troopers don’t get to quit. And I don’t think commanders should get to consider that,” he said, speaking more passionately and asking for more time to make a statement.

When the commander-in-chief makes a decision, it is the duty of top-level officers, he said, “to execute that decision to the best of our ability.”