I think it is notable that George thought he ought to go to Bagdad to get "the story strait" even with his hand picked general, supporting the idea that he does not trust Petraeus's complacency in the delusion he wants to persist in passing on to us. Truth speaks for itself and requires no framing discussions.

The purpose of Petraeus's surge was to divide the oil revenues equitably, gain a respected Iraqi policing body, gain an Iraqi military that could support a functional national government, get the personal militias to disband or come under the leadership of a beloved common government, and get the utilities back on line 24/7 and a good start on rebuilding including 100% gainful employment for each Iraqi.

None of these things are being addressed as the job is impossible for Petraeus or our military. There must be a bloodbath in Iraq with the top war lord taking over finally in the end, we can hope this warlord is "nicer" then Sadam but that hope is more related to our delusion then facts on the ground.

"Some of them I correspond with almost on a daily basis. And when they sent a discouraging report about things that were happening in Baghdad, they were reminded by their superiors that's unacceptable; we need a positive report. They were sent back for editing changes. Now that's a fact," Durbin said."

this is true... I KNOW a lot of them!!!! thanks God somebody have the guts to tell it as it is...

Pottery Barn theory: If I break something in the barn, I'm responsbile for it.

Sucker Barn theory: After I pay for what I broke in the Pottery Barn, a huge Wild West brawl breaks out between the owners, customers and employees, and YOU seem to think AMERICAN TROOPS should have to pay for all the broken pots!!

HOORAY FOR SENATOR DURBIN!!! To heck with Bushkissers who hate our troops!!

Wow. Straight out of "1984."

"War is peace." Sure thing.

There is no good news. The surge didn't work. The government in Iraq, besides being run by a theocratic constitution, can't even get along with its own countrymen. Americans are dying everyday, many more wounded. This failure is worse than Vietnam.

Only someone with their head in the sand would continue to believe this war is going well. You heard the last blast of B.S. by Bush about the war meeting only 7 of 18 criteria for "success," and even part of those 7 were stretches of truth by Bush.
Does someone have to whack you over the head with a swastica to see what's going on?
Why should Petreus be any less of a liar than the rest of the fascist Bushies?

Get real. Bush got rid of all the military generals who were against his stupid war. Just because he found a syncophant in Petreus doesn't make that guy legitimate as anything other than a Bush apologist.

If you think the war is so grand...why don't you go enlist? Hypocrite.

3. So they will push for us to turn around when we have gone 3/4 of the way across the river and head back to the shore we started from. BRILLIANT! And they can't figure out why Congress approval polls have them 10pts lower than Bush.

Brian Baird, as liberal a Dem as you will find anywhere went to Iraq and returned recently with the intellectual honesty to tell it like it is in a Seattle Times Op-Ed piece: It's working. We need to win and let this momentum move us forward. For this Baird will probably be "Liebermanized" from the party just like Joe.

In other words, the report may not worth the paper it is printed on.

I see no reason to doubt Dick Durbin's claim.

I don't know how anyone could believe we have made success with all of the deaths going on over there on a daily basis. What complete nonsense and measurements are being used. There have been more Iraqi deaths there in a shorter time period since our surge was put into place. It's things like this that make me very tired of our current government.

Of course anything that comes across as a positive development must now be discounted or written off as wrong. These small-minded whiners can't stand to acknowledge anything positive in this war. They would rather pander to moveon.org and the rest of their far-left base than support positive developments.

Schumer's speech saying the surge had nothing to do with the succcess in Anbar province was typical of a party that wants to see us defeated in Iraq because they think it will get them more seats in the house and senate.

This is sad.

The reason we are still fighting and funding still goes through (and will continue) is because the actions are needed. The newly elected Democrats finally took their head out of the clouds and looked at the evidence, maybe all you tree huggers can follow their lead.

p.s. Real Americans will never forgive you for calling our troops Nazis.

They are COMMITTED to killing "infidels" (non Salafists) no matter their diplomatic efforts.

Until the next, devastating attack, we lack the common identity AS AMERICANS and will to prevent it.

Our political and uniformed military leaders have made significant mistakes, no doubt. Republican, Democratic, civilian, political and career.

Our inability to join together to protect us all is only OUR fault.

* Overall civilian deaths in all of Iraq have risen.
* The number of civilian deaths increased to 1,809 in August from 1,760 in July.
* The number of car bombings in July was 5 percent higher than in December 2006.
* May was the deadliest month in 2007, with 1,901 civilian deaths in comparison to 2,172 in December of 2006. ...

10. Has the quality of life improved for ordinary Iraqis?

* Iraq is ranked second in a list of the world’s most badly failing states.
* There are now more than 2.4 million Iraqi refugees living in the Middle East
* Militias are seizing control of electrical switching stations and using them to increase their military and political power.
* Iraq is only meeting 50 percent of electrical demand.
* 70 percent of Iraqis lack adequate water supplies, compared to 50 percent in 2003.
* The U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Team program is under-funded, lacks clear objectives, suffers from repeated leadership changes, and has a staff of which 95 percent lack the cultural knowledge and Arabic-language skills needed to work with Iraqis.
* Oxfam says that one-third of the Iraqi population is in need of emergency aid.
* One quarter (28 percent) of Iraqi children are malnourished and 15 percent of the total population—4 million Iraqis—cannot buy enough food.

The report does not matter anymore. The White House has already made up their mind that we are gonna stick around in Iraq. We have been told to wait on this report for months now just so the administration has more time to come up with catch phrases such as "Mission Accomplished" and "in the last throws". More and more of our troops die each day and for what? The administration has shifted the reasons for being in Iraq so many times that I don't think they even remember why we are there. This is not a character asassination. We have to get out of Iraq now!!!

What if those emails are true, does that not concern you that people are being told to redo Iraq intel reports?

We the people don't believe a word of it! We have been lied to for over 6 years on a variety of subjects, now we're supposed to believe that we are finally winning the Iraq civil war? Just who is winning and who is getting long term oil contracts?

The Cheney/Bush Adm. has been manipulating the intel all along!

Why would they stop now?

General Patraeus has an impecable reputation and was approved by the senate 81-0. One would THINK the General should get an opportunity to first present his findings BEFORE democrats begin their onslaught of character assassignation and maligning this good man??

I'm afraid there are some in Washington who are routing for terrible losses as opposed to progress in Iraq. "Losses" help their political position – so they think.

Tim, Did you get that memo?.

Any body capable of breating air and having a tiny bit of the oxygen go to its brain already knows the infamous report is crap.

You Repugs can place Petraeus up there next to your god(s) and worship him until you feel good about yourselves. Enjoy and good luck.

It doesn't surprise me at all that a leading democrat would start the spinning process even before the data is published.