Combining his astute knowledge with a highly detailed slideshow, General Petraeus painted an overall positive picture of the situation there. Of considerable note was the progress of the surge - an addition of more than 20,000 U.S. troops at the start of 2007. He also summarized of the major lessons learned in Iraq, their implementation in the Counterinsurgency Field Manual and the overall strategy employed by coalition forces to diminish insurgency efforts through both military and civilian means.

Along those lines, he also mentioned the Sons of Iraq. The United States has contributed to members of this group, both Shia and Sunni, to help them protect their villages after coalition forces clear the area of al-Qaeda elements. But as the Iraqi government assumes responsibility for them (roughly half of these 100,000 are now being paid by the Iraqi government, amid grumblings from the members themselves), it remains to be seen whether their success will continue.

Part of the Iraq strategy has been what Petraeus summarized as separating the reconcilables from the irreconcilables. He stressed the importance of stripping away from insurgency forces those who can be embraced and made part of the solution, even if it means negotiating with recent adversaries. This rhetoric was later juxtaposed in a Q&A when the moderator made the mistake of saying the General would be open to negotiating with the Taliban. The General made it very clear he would not.

Petraeus made little mention of Iran, the recent attacks in Mumbai or the Middle East peace process. But he could not avoid giving a substantial nod to Afghanistan. The General seemed to be drumming up support for what may become another troop surge there. He went to great lengths to stress Italy's role as an ally in recent years, even going so far as to equate the training of the new Iraqi national police by Italian Carabinieri with giving children the opportunity to play basketball with Michael Jordan.

With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Petraeus referred to approaching Brussels for more NATO troops as a minefield and expressed hope that Italian officials could do that in his stead at the appropriate time. But if current comments from Italian officials are any indicator, Italy has no intention of committing any more troops to either Iraq or Afghanistan.

Mark Konold is a graduate student in the IR/International Policy program at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Bologna Center in Italy.