Sizing Up The Iraq Surge Strategy

The U.S. commander in Iraq is very conscious of the September 15 deadline. But it hasn't changed his routine.

Every week General David Petraeus heads out to what the military calls "the battle space" to look, to talk and to listen.

It's part fact-finding, and senior officers are the first to have their say, reports CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey.

"You can read all the intel, you can read all the reports you want in Baghdad, but there's no substitute for being out on the ground talking to the leaders who are actually doing it," said Petraeus.

There were no headlines from the trip, but all information is valuable and, while the troops' morale is invariably described as "high," it's not something their commanding officer takes for granted.

"You're part of something real important, and you know that," Petraeus told his soldiers.

Increasing use is being made of air strikes to keeps troops out of harm's way and hit insurgents when they least expect it, but there is also a toll in civilian casualties, known as "collateral damage".

Petraeus described the political pressures here in Iraq and in Washington as "a couple of extra rocks in my rucksack," but it never shows when he meets his troops.

What U.S. military officers here in Iraq say they want is the chance to reduce troop levels at a rate that matches the Iraq army's ability to stand up and do the job on their own. That, they say, can't be done to meet any specific deadline.

"This won't be a light switch," adds Petraeus. "There won't be one moment when Iraq goes from all coalition to all Iraq."

That's another way of saying the September 15 deadline is just another version of a soldier getting a chance to tell his boss what's going on.