Ya Gotta Be Funnin'

You mean to tell me a Bush Administration-authored assessment of the surge is filled with rosy scenarios and half-truths? What a completely emergent pattern! What a stray onto the beaten path!

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Senior Democratic senators challenged a new intelligence report's assessment of President Bush's "surge" strategy Friday, saying the troop increase in Iraq has failed to achieve its strategic goals.

The classified National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, which was distributed to key lawmakers this week, sets the stage for the latest public progress report on Iraq that will be delivered Tuesday and Wednesday to congressional committees by Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the top U.S. diplomat in Baghdad.

"In my judgment, it's too rosy, but there are parts of it that are not so rosy, and both pieces need to be declassified," Sen. Carl Levin said, pointing in particular to the portion of the report describing Iraq's political progress.

You know that it's bad when even the doctored, rosy report created by the Pentagon has to remain a closely guarded secret. Levin and Kennedy are heading up the effort to get the report declassified.

What could it possibly say in defense of this failed strategy? Violence is down but it's at a plateau and even ticked back up in February and March. The political situation is a mess; Maliki tried to be a tough guy and muscle Sadr out of the picture but his own army defected and eventually Iran - Iran! - had to broker a deal. And his reaction to the slaughter was to add 10,000 Badr Brigade militia forces at a time where Sunni Concerned Local Citizens groups are begging for jobs and are being told that no slots are available for them. There's precious little to be cheery about, and so I expect lying and evasion in place of the difficult truth.

ROSEN: There’s no positive scenario in Iraq these days. Not every situation has a solution.

Rosen also called the United States "an imperialist power." Whatever is needed to wake people up. The surge has failed.