Gen. Petraeus sounds cautious note on progress in Iraq

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice presented him the State Department's highest honor. He was hailed at the conservative Heritage Foundation as "the right man in the right place and at the right time." And a former Army chief compared him to Alexander the Great, slicing the Gordian Knot of Iraq.

Through it all, Petraeus appeared almost sheepish, insisting that the accolades belonged to his troops and joking that he wished his parents were around to hear the praise.

"My dad would have enjoyed it, and my mother might have even believed it," Petraeus said.

Between the encomiums and the occasional laughter, however, Petraeus spent the week presenting a much more sober view of Iraq than most of those lauding him.

Armed with his trademark charts and graphs, he said that Iraq has improved dramatically since last summer, with violence dropping to its lowest levels since early 2004.

But he also argued that things could still go wrong.

One of the slides he presented at both Heritage and a gathering of current and retired Army officers had 10 "potential storm clouds" -- complete with yellow lightning bolts shooting from 10 gray shapes -- that could upend recent gains.

"This progress is a little less fragile, if you will, and a little more durable" than when he testified before his confirmation hearing in May, Petraeus said.

"But that is very heavily qualified by noting that there are enormous difficulties that Iraq still has to deal with."

Petraeus' cautious view, a hallmark of his command, contrasts with the suggestions of imminent victory from those around him and has set the U.S. course for nearly two years.

As one of the last acts of his tour in Iraq, for example, Petraeus pushed to keep nearly 140,000 troops in Iraq through the middle of next year over the wishes of some Pentagon leaders who wanted a faster rate of withdrawals.

Petraeus is taking over U.S. Central Command, the headquarters for all U.S. forces in the Middle East and central Asia, at the end of the month, meaning his views will influence the next presidential administration.