THE JOINT CAMPAIGN PLAN was developed and has been approved by the U.S. Embassy in Iraq and Multinational Force-Iraq as a top-level strategic planning document for both the Embassy and Multinational Force-Iraq missions. The Joint Campaign Plan certainly does not contain all the answers for the U.S. strategy in Iraq, but it is a living document and will be modified and amended as the situation there continues to develop. Still, the original strategy is a comprehensive plan that has both near-term and long-term goals in four critical areas–political, security, economic and diplomatic.

Since his installation as the Multinational Force commander in Iraq, General Petraeus has repeatedly stated that the solution in Iraq is not completely military. And, with the Washington clock ticking faster than the Baghdad clock, accomplishments in the Iraqi political arena have become the paramount issue. Thus, the main emphasis of this new plan will be along the political line, with supporting efforts in the other three areas.