Linked is a WaPo article (entitled "Report Finds Little Progress On Iraq Goals : GAO Draft at Odds With White House") covering a GAO study which assesses Iraq's progress in meeting the Congressional benchmarks set some months ago.

Here PM Maliki says that his country does need the American forces in place, though perhaps barely so. He has some very critical things to say about their methods and the results thereof.

Finally, perhaps only tangentially related, and unverified, we have here a quote from General Wesley Clark which appears to reveal that as far back as 2001 there were plans describing an apparent domino effect series of wars in the Middle East, culminating in the fall of Iran. Assuming for a moment that this plan was real, I'm not sure if it's comforting or depressing to know that the execution was so handled so incompetently that 6 years later we've not only not conquered 7 nations, but haven't even pacified the first. A little of both, I guess.

Additional data points in preparation for the Petreus / White House report