Our present commander of forces in Iraq testified on January 11 that we'd need to evaluate on the basis of the results of the surge whether the Iraqis were meeting the conditions we/they imposed. Good morning, it's exactly two months later. Set the petards on hoist!

Gates told lawmakers that the U.S. military should know within months after the surge of U.S. troops begins whether the new strategy “bears fruit.” And if it doesn’t, he said in response to a question, “we will have to revisit our strategy.”  Read more…