Quadsville

"The administration lacks an updated and comprehensive Iraq strategy to move beyond the "surge" of combat troops Bush launched in January 2007, government investigators said yesterday.

...the Government Accountability Office concluded that many other goals Bush outlined a year and a half ago in the "New Way Forward" strategy remain unmet.

The report cited little improvement in the ability of the Iraqi security forces to act independently of the U.S. military, and noted that key legislation passed by the Iraqi parliament had not been implemented while other crucial laws had not been passed. The report also judged that key Iraqi ministries spent less of their allocated budgets last year than in previous years, and said that oil and electricity production had repeatedly not met U.S. targets."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/23/AR2008062302050.html?nav=rss_world/mideast

Hoocoodanode? 

It's become so appalling that even the nyt's thomas friedman, he of the endless "just-6-more-months" will tell "friedman unit", has finally faced reality and become 'shrill' about taking action in iraq.

Sadly, the continued tour-extensions for the troops were extended for the sole reason of buying bush more time "not to fail", like he has domestically (oil, mortgages, jobs, foreclosures, bankruptcies, repos, the economy). The vaunted surge has indeed reduced the somewhat reduced the violence, but to what purpose?

The reduced violence is most directly attributable to the US paying (bribing? lobbying? market incentivizing?) some 30+ thousand sunni's $300/month not to attack us. Some day that will end.

The shiite filled iraqi army proved helpless against their shiite opponents in basra and baghdad, until US forces and airpower beat them back. Can't see that lasting much longer either. 

The iraqi govn is no more cohesive or effective than pre-surge. iraq is no more stable than before, though basra has been pacified and being occupied by the govn forces. Iraq is basically in a holding-pattern, w/ opposing groups positioning themselves for their fall elections.

All on the US's dime (or 1,500,000,000,000 dimes, if anyone's still counting; that's Trillion, btw).

In other words, the surge...or escalation...bought the gop a 1 yr grace period of avoiding obvious failure, and the political breathing room for this fall's elections.

Which is what the "surge's" real purpose was all along.

Oh, that, and the oil contracts awarded.