More good news! AP:

The U.S. military's top general said Monday that the Joint Chiefs of Staff is weighing a range of possible new directions in Iraq, including, if President Bush deems it necessary, an even bigger troop buildup.

Making no predictions, Marine Gen. Peter Pace revealed that he and the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force are obliged to consider various troop-level scenarios before September, when Bush will receive an assessment of the Iraq situation from his top commander there, Gen. David Petraeus.

So, the option of continued escalation is "on the table," as we say. And I guess this White House statement is now inoperative:

Q I'm not talking about that. I'm saying what the President said last night is he hoped that there would be fewer troops -- I'm sure he's not talking about five or ten, I'm sure he's talking about a substantial number -- by the time a new President takes over. That sounds like it's cluing the enemy into something. I don't get the distinction.

MS. PERINO: No, I think -- well, I do; I understand that you don't. But I do think that it's apples and oranges, and let me try to explain it again. I think what the President is saying is that we have a Baghdad security plan; it is a surge. A surge by its name is a temporary mission. General David Petraeus ["Betray us"] is there on Capitol Hill today to talk about the status of that and how it's going, and that he would know by the fall whether or not we are going to be able to have success with the mission.

Honestly, I just don't know why anybody takes these guys seriously. They are going to say whatever they say, and if it sticks, fine. And if it doesn't, they'll just throw something else out. Same as with the WMDs whack-a-lie episode we all went through when they were fixing the intelligence and facts around the policy and planting all their stories in the press (Hi, Judy!)

And no matter what they say, they're going to do exactly whatever the Fuck they want.

What, you didn't think we were living under a despotic, criminal regime?