Hugh Hewitt interviewed John F. Burns yesterday. Burns is the current London Bureau Chief for the New York Times.

Listen to Interview - 33 minutes

He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and was stationed in Baghdad as the New York Times Bureau Chief for many years up until the fall of 2007. His wife remains in Baghdad. In this interview he gives an excellent and balanced first-hand assessment and analysis of the situation on the ground in Iraq. If you're an Iraq war pessimist or optimist you'll find this to be compelling listening. The interview runs about 33 minutes.

• Conditions in country compared to 16 months ago when Gen. Petraeus took over as military commander have improved greatly.
• May 2008, 19 American troops were killed which is the lowest number in four years - since March 2004.
• Violence in Baghdad is down sharply. It’s now a very rare occurrence for his wife who is still there to hear a suicide bombing. It used to be a daily event.
• Enterprise is thriving. The markets are busy. The roads leading out of and into Iraq are heavy with traffic.
• Iraq is earning twice as much in oil revenue ($60 billion) than it did under Saddam in the best years.
• Electricity and medical care still need a lot of help, but making incremental improvements
• The Anbar “Awakening” has shattered al Qaeda’s confidence. It was a real strategic blow as the Sunni community turned against al Qaeda.
• The deep brutality and cruelty of al Qaeda was as repulsive to ordinary Iraqis as it would have been to anybody else. This has been a major factor in the improving situation.
• The Iraqi Army has on occasion done quite well. Large parts of Basra are now under government control.
• The Iraqis will fight for themselves. They’re willing and capable.
• Maliki and most of the people in the government had no previous governing experience. They were not well-equipped to assume leadership of a nation in crisis. The most encouraging thing to happen in the last few weeks is Maliki’s decision to (finally) take on the Shiite militias. Mouqtada al Sadr’s vote is what put Maliki in power and Maliki has been reluctant to go after him ever since. So this recent turn of events is a good sign.
• The odds of winning in Iraq are improving.
• Iraqis are generally happy that we liberated them from Saddam Hussein.
• The U.K. has a serious long-term domestic security problem involving a radical fringe element of Islamists.
• British security often backed by American intelligence has stopped several terrorist attacks since 2001.