The Anbar Miracle

I thought there were candy canes dropping from the sky in Anbar and an Indiana marketplace had sprung up in Fallouja. How could multiple US Marines die there in those circumstances?

Of course, according to General Petraeus we've been making progress there for three years. He's in a tough spot, by the way, because he has to thread the needle and say we're "kicking ass," but not so much ass that we can ever leave. Hence the "Petraeus Sees Gains As Fragile" story.

That is, he would be in a tough spot if the Democrats weren't so willing to lay down like dogs. I think what you heard from John Warner is exactly what's going to happen; we'll withdraw one brigade by Christmas, keep another 150,000 or so there indefinitely, and the moderate centrists can slap the blood off their hands and onto each others backs as they congratulate each other for doing something meaningful.