“It depends on the conditions, depends on the missions set, depends on the enemy,” Petraeus, who is to meet Obama when he visits Iraq soon, told NBC News today. “The enemy does get a vote and is sometimes an independent variable. Lots of different factors I think that would be tied up in that. The dialogue on that and the amount of risk, because it eventually comes down to how much risk various options entail. That’s the kind of discussion I think that is very important as we look to the future.”
Meanwhile the White House announced the United States and Iraq had agreed on a “general time horizon” for the further drawing down of US troops in Iraq as the security situation improves. Via the New York Time:
The United States and Iraq have agreed to set a “general time horizon” for the “further reduction of U.S. combat forces in Iraq” following the improvement in security conditions in the country, the White House said Friday.
The breakthrough, which was reached between President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki in discussions via video link on Thursday, could lead to the successful completion of a long-term security agreement covering American operations in Iraq — from combat missions to detaining Iraqis — by the end of this month, a White House official said.
“We’re converging on an agreement,” the official said, referring to ongoing negotiations between Iraq and the United States on the deal.
The suspicious minds amongst us might think that there is a conspiracy to steal Obama’s thunder on the Iraq issue. The sane might just admit the surge has worked. Still doesn’t make the war right but that is an issue that no longer matters. What matters are the conditions on the ground now and the prospects for a peaceful and prosperous Iraq and those are much improved. Not out of the woods yet either but heading in the right direction.