07 APR 08 / "Petraeus Returns"

When General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker return to Capitol Hill to testify before Congress later this week, they will be able to point to significant security successes across all of Iraq. Unfortunately, many of the Democrats who witness their testimony will not want to accept the good news because of how it is playing politically. The Democratic Party has cast its lot with defeat.

In September when they last appeared before Congress, Senator Hillary Clinton declared that Petraeus's testimony required "the willing suspension of disbelief." The success of the surge will likely cause her to not to be so disrespectful to the American commander this time around.

American military personnel have performed bravely and brilliantly under the most difficult of circumstances. Many have returned for multiple deployments ... Reenlistment rates are high ... with wounded among them.

Iraqi security forces have begun to make a positive impact. They fought Shia factions in Basra in recent weeks. And their numbers are growing. Added more than 130,000 in the past 16 months.

Al Qaeda in Iraq is in retreat, but not yet defeated. Al Qaeda still views Iraq as the central front in the war on terror.

Foreign fighters flowing into Iraq from Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia continue to kill members of the American and Iraqi military and Iraqi civilians. Ethno-sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni has lessened dramatically, but continues to pose a problem for the nascent Iraqi government.

Much progress has been made to secure the population and transfer responsibility to Iraqi forces.

For the first time in 48 years, the next president will come from the Senate, where the debate on Iraq has been raging since the invasion in March 2003.

The outcome of the presidential election will determine the success or failure of the United States in Iraq.