On Wednesday, Barack Obama, the US president, said that an additional 30,000 troops would be deployed to Afghanistan over a six-month period.

This announcement of the new US military strategy echoes former President Bush's decisions in Iraq.

Back in 2007, Bush deployed more than 20,000 additional soldiers in Iraq, mainly around Baghdad.

The goal was similar to those objectives now set by Obama for Afghanistan: Reducing the levels of violence, fighting "terrorists" and preparing the country for a US troop withdrawal.

Conventional wisdom in the US is that additional troops 'worked' - because violence dropped in the months that followed.

But only four per cent of Iraqis believe that the US troops can claim the credit, most attribute the seeming success to other factors.

So what lessons can US commanders in Afghanistan learn from Iraq? And will president Obama really avoid the mistakes of his predecessor?

Jasim Azawi is joined by General Richard Myers, the former chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, and As'ad Abu Khalil, a professor for political science at the University of California, Berkeley.

This episode of Inside Iraq can be seen from Friday, December 3, at the following times GMT: Friday: 1730, 2230; Saturday: 0300, 0830; Sunday: 0600, 1230 and Monday: 0130.