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Less Than Great Expectations

My esteemed colleague Creature flagged this briefly yesterday but the news deserves a fuller airing. It would seem that just like the Strategy for Victory and a New Way Forward plans before it, The Surge is now just as defunct. They've lowered the bar yet again, not only putting off an assessment of how well the surge is working until September but also scaling back their expectations of what the Iraqi government is able to accomplish. But what is this, you might be saying, weren't we told ad infinitum by proponents that we should give this plan a chance to work because it would give the Iraqi government the "breathing room" it needed to come to a political reconciliation? For anyone who believed that, I have a bridge to sell you.

Face it. Just like with most of what we are told about the war, the surge was a lie from the start. It was never meant to bring about progress, it was merely a delaying tactic. Another in an endless series of kick the bullet riddled can down the road a ways.

And those few successes that did happen have crumbled like so many other failed business ventures George Bush has been at the helm of.

I would say that we should expect more from our leaders. But with this bunch, that's one expectation too far.

(Filed at State of the Day)