Are we making progress in Iraq? Most indications, from media reports and from politicians and military analysts of all stripes who've visited the country recently, suggest we are. Earlier today in a background briefing, a senior administration official (SAO) further laid out the case we're making progress, not only in Iraq but in Afghanistan as well.

Addressing a question about the latter, the SAO pointed to a number of positive developments in just the last two weeks. Diplomatically, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai met with President Bush at Camp David last weekend; politically, the Pakistanis and Afghans just finished their joint jirga (council) which, according to the SAO has "some pretty significant outcomes" and also "reflects the Pakistanis coming together with the Afghanis"; and militarily, where the SAO pointed out that operations continue to be carried out in a number of provinces.

Turning to Iraq, when asked how the U.S. can follow up what appears like progress on the surge with political progress, the SAO stressed that expectations should be "realistic" on both the political and military front.

"There are significant challenges," he said. "And the challenges certainly are how well [Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al] Maliki's government can take advantage of the opportunity that the beginnings to the change in security are starting to offer."

The SAO expressed cautious optimism that "a bridging and a spanning of some of the issues" could occur at the leadership conference in Baghdad this week and that some of the security successes in Iraq "play out with additional political reconciliation."

There are some political successes in the provinces, the SAO added, which are "starting to feed bottom up." He mentioned Al Anbar province as a spot of provincial success and "the greatest surprise," considering that not too long ago "people were ready to throw in the towel" on Anbar.

But the key challenge, the SAO pointed out, is "how do you marry those bottom-up political successes with the top-down successes and connect this all together?"

Lastly, a questioner asked whether Iran's influence in the region was growing, diminishing, or staying the same. "It's getting worse," the SAO responded, adding, "We see al Qaeda as the greatest strategic threat there, but certainly the tactical threat and risk posed by [Iran] is of special concern."