John Kline: “He says that the progress our forces have achieved with the Iraqi counterparts has been substantial. He says, I see…”

“He says that the progress our forces have achieved with the Iraqi counterparts has been substantial. He says, I see improvements in the security environment. The level of security incidents has decreased significantly since the start of the surge of offensive operations in mid-June. Civilian deaths have declined considerably. He says locals have increasingly supported our efforts. While he says al Qaeda certainly is not defeated, it is off balance and we are pursuing its leaders and operators aggressively. This report is not all rosy. General Petraeus made the point several times during the over 6 hours of testimony that we had today that he doesn't want to look at this from a rosy standpoint or a pessimistic standpoint or an optimistic standpoint, but from a realistic standpoint; and I believe that this great leader, this great general, this man of great integrity and competence and capability did just that for us today.”