U.S. Strategy in Iraq

As General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker complete their testimony before Congress, Ivo Daalder joins Diane Rehm to discuss the status of Iraq.

Diane Rehm, host: Ivo Daalder, in your view, what have been the gains and what have been the losses?

Ivo Daalder: I’d agree on the gains in terms of the security situation. Clearly it is better now than it was when the surge started, though the recent up tick in violence is getting us back to the level we saw last in September of 2007. The question is: How fragile is the situation that was described as very fragile by both Ambassador Crocker and General Petreaus. We didn’t have a sense of great confidence that things would be moving back down to the level we had seen a short while ago.

Listen to the full interview » (Windows Media)