Six months after a "surge" of 30,000 US reinforcements to Iraq, experts and White House advisors said Tuesday security is better, but offered little hope for the crucial political resolution to the conflict.
President George W. Bush's nominee to be top military adviser said on Tuesday the United States would be in Iraq for "years not months" and a Pentagon official said the war was costing even more than expected.
The buildup of extra troops in Baghdad may be bearing fruit, U.S. commanders said on Tuesday, as they welcomed word that July was the least deadly month for their forces in Iraq since November.
The U.S. military is expressing hope that the recent troop buildup in Iraq is making strides as commanders point to the American death toll in the war zone -- the lowest monthly total since November.
House Democratic leaders are intent on sidetracking bipartisan attempts to change course in Iraq at least until fall, officials said Tuesday, rather than allow nervous Republicans to vote for legislation that lacks a troop withdrawal deadline.
Adm. Michael G. Mullen said American military efforts in Iraq would fail unless Iraqi leaders did more.
The Iraqi government has made little progress toward political reconciliation, and U.S. policy in Iraq would require a "strategic reassessment" if that does not happen by mid-September, President Bush's nominee to head the Joint Chiefs of Staff told a Senate committee Tuesday.
The death of a marine in western Iraq brought the American military death toll to 74 so far in July, on course to be the lowest monthly figure this year.
War In Iraq: It's quite likely that, as you read this, U.S. troops under the leadership of Gen. David Petraeus are winning the war against terrorism in Iraq. And no, it isn't just war-crazed neocons who think so.
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia— President Bush's top foreign affairs and defense advisers sought Arab nations' help Tuesday in stabilizing Iraq, containing Iran and advancing Middle East peace, but ran head-on into concerns that the United States is about to make a rapid exit from Baghdad.