1. We've been screwed since the Pubbies blew the election.
2. The report does not seem all that offensive with the exception of its implied threat to Israel.
3. And, you can rely on the MSM to spin it as a defeat for the president.
Improved/increased training and indoctrination for Iraqis at all levels and in all functions seems a no brainer - its their country & we don't want to be manning check points into the next decade.
'Diplomacy' toward Syria and Iran should, in my version, concentrate on the many reasons they'd be better off not interfering.
Return of the Golan Heights should NOT be a part of those reasons but it has been on the burner since Hizbola added it to their list during the last dust up. [I expect that any such references are based on the predilections of panel members and not on any 'Iraqi Studies' they took part in.]
Yes, the war in Iraq is over, yes, it has been a low casualty operation, and yes, the administration failed miserably in maintaining public support / the MSM and Dems have acted according to what their old timers learned from Vietnam.
What I sense is that the Dems will now put on their soft and cuddly face, change some rhetoric, and 'stay the course' while the media campaigns for them on how things got all better after they hauled in congress.
What reasons are those? Every time I turn around, it seems, someone is yelling, "Negotiate with Iran and Syria!" But as yet no one can tell me how we are going to get them to stop meddling in Iraq. It's either carrots or sticks. We have tried carrots. If we pull out troops what sticks do we have?