Iraq says making progress ahead of key reports

Just go here to see what the Government Accounting Office thinks about Iraqi progress. Its an earlier post of mine so regular readers probably have seen it already.

Iraq's foreign minister said on Thursday the government had made good progress in responding to U.S. goals for improved security and political cohesion ahead of key reports soon to be delivered to the U.S. Congress.

The U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker will testify before Congress on either September 11 or 12.

Their reports on Iraq's security and political situation could prompt a shift in U.S. President George W. Bush's Iraq policy amid calls from opposition Democrats and some senior Republicans for U.S. troops to start leaving Iraq.

"The whole world is waiting anxiously to see what these reports will indicate," Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari told a news conference.

Zebari said there had been a "great deal" of progress on the security front in Iraq, while an agreement at the weekend by the country's top five Shi'ite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish leaders to boost national reconciliation was a "significant move".

Via Reuters.