Gen. David Petraeus has pulled off yet another brilliant coup in his conduct of the war in Iraq - he has gracefully placed both the US Congress and Iraq’s Prime Minister in positions where they would be hard pressed to oppose the progress of his strategy. The laureled Commander of MNF in Iraq overcame union stalling in getting his forces to Iraq, Pentagon-driven equipment deprivation while leading in Iraq, and of late turned the Sunni militas that were the country’s chief marauders into the skeleton of a formidable force for security and reconciliation. Now he appears to be preparing to oblige the legislators of two nations to join with his strategy or appear venal and reactionary.

In the case of the US Congress, Petraeus stated that he considered a troop reduction next year to be not only favorable, but necessary.

“We know that the surge has to come to an end, there’s no question about that. I think everyone understands that by about a year or so from now we’ve got to be a good bit smaller than we are right now.

“The question is how do you do that … so that you can retain the gains we have fought so hard to achieve and so you can keep going. Again we are not at all satisfied where we are right now. We have made some progress but again there’s still a lot of hard work to be done against the different extremist elements that do threaten the new Iraq.”

This makes him seem like he is, in fact, acknowledging the merits of their arguments - it makes him seem not only thoughtful, but allied. Yet at the same time he noted that in light of that necessity, the extra effort that the “Surge Strategy” represents must be continued. It clarifies his strategy’s objectives, addresses the reality of an increasingly exhausted America and, in doing so, makes his insistence on an extra effort seem realistic.

He made these comments while staging a political event that was tailored to harness the other critical legislature - Maliki’s frozen political bloc - and drag them towards progress. He was meeting with Abu Abed, a militaman who runs the Amariyah neighborhood of Baghdad, one of the most ravaged and conflict-ridden zones in the martial metropolis. With Iraq’s Deputy PM along, Petraeus exchaged oaths of aid for promises of security for Iraqis of all sectarian stripe to live under Abed’s protection.

The great significance of this deed is its location. Amariyah has been a wound in the side of the reconciliation process - promised much and given nothing, it has languished since the war’s beginning and became a haven for al-Qaeda and Shiite militias. Sunni cabinet members left Maliki’s government in protest this past spring over the seemingly willful neglect over the ailing neighborhood and others like it. When Baghdad erupted against al-Qaeda, Amariyah was the first to explode. The Deputy PM’s presence at the meeting suggests an end run around Maliki’s government to establish the provincial powers, balanced security networks and delivery of infrastructure aid that his policies inflict on them.

This is grounds for hope - not hope of swift results or an easy path, but at last hope that ulterior agendas and enforced ignorance will no longer be deciding the facts on the ground in Iraq. Petraeus’ only agenda is success, and he is not going to let circumstances born of the manipulations of ideologues decide whether he achieves it or not. This is the kind of leadership this war has always needed.

Let us hope it gets the support it deserves. What gains its winning are increasingly fragile with Iran’s counter-Surge of weapons and operatives raising the pressure in Baghdad’s fragile heart.