Political Progress Will Only Take

I Am Neither A Pessimist Nor An Optimist. I Am A Realist, And The Reality In Iraq Is That It Has Been Very Hard And It Continues To Be Hard.

We Cleared Many Of Their Towns And Cities And Rural Areas Of Al-qaida Iraq And Other Insurgents.

Fighting In Cities Is A Totally Different Endeavor Than Obviously Fighting Out In The Open.

There [in Afghanistan] Is Also A Growing Insurgency Threat From Al-qaida, The Taliban And Other Extremist Elements, Some Of Which Comes From The Tribal Areas Of Pakistan, As Well As From The Northwest Frontier Province And Baluchistan.

Don't Forget Yemen, Where There Are Also Extremist Elements, As We Saw Recently.