US General David Petraeus appeared to pass out briefly at a televised Senate hearing on Afghanistan.

The four-star general who leads Central Command quickly recovered and walked out under his own power.

Gen. Petraeus, 57, had finished telling Sen. John McCain that he believes the planned 2011 pullout of U.S. troops from Afghanistan remains on track, and McCain was responding when the room fell silent and aides began crowding around the four-star general.

Gen Petraeus, who oversees the war in Iraq and Afghanistan as head of U.S. Central Command, briefly put his head on the table, then rose, appearing dazed. He stood under his own power and was escorted from the room.

Gen Petraeus himself returned to the room briefly and told the senators he “was feeling a little bit light-headed there.”

“It wasn’t Sen. McCain’s question,” the general added.

That was nice of the general; but, it’s likely that listening to McCain pat himself on the back over and over again could put a teenage gamer on his third espresso bongo into a narcoleptic coma.