No one can spend some 10 days visiting the battlefields in 
    Iraq without seeing major progress in every area. A 
    combination of the surge, improved win and hold tactics, 
    the tribal uprising in Anbar and other provinces, the Sadr 
    ceasefire, and major advances in the use of IS&R have 
    transformed the battle against Al Qaida in Iraq. If the US 
    provides sustained support to the Iraqi government -- in 
    security, governance, and development -- there is now a 
    very real chance that Iraq will emerge as a secure and 
    stable state...

    ...and it is clear that Iraq can only succeed with years of
    additional US support in security, governance, and 
    development. The progress in 2008 and 2009 cannot be 
    decisive or irreversible. It will take strong US 
    involvement throughout the life of the next Administration 
    to succeed, and it may well take US aid through 2016.