In December 2007, The Washington Post's "Fact Checker" stated that "While some of Petraeus's statistics are open to challenge, his claims about a general reduction in violence have been borne out over subsequent months. It now looks as if Petraeus was broadly right on this issue at least".[34] Michael E. O'Hanlon and Jason H. Campbell of the non-partisan Brookings Institution stated in January 2008 that Iraq's security environment had reached its best levels since early 2004 and credited Petraeus' strategy for the improvement.[35] They considered Iraq's economy and political system to be "only marginally better than a year ago".[35] O'Hanlon stated that month that "Overall, Iraq's political system probably merits a grade of roughly C for its performance over the last 12 months."[36] He also stated that "the pace of progress is finally picking up."[36] US News and World Report stated that Iraq has experienced a "dramatic drop in violence and other signs of progress in recent months" and also stated that the "political divisions in Iraq remain deep, and if they are not bridged soon, civil war could well erupt again."[37]