Failed Surge/State

I touched on this early this morning but Tim F. at Balloon Juice did a much better/snarkier job in Maybe He’ll Take Credit For The Soccer Win.

As described by its own architects, the Kagan “surge” was meant to provide a window of security so that the Iraqi factions can work out their differences. I guess in Kaganland a few months of light chatting is all it takes to smooth out the factional divide that is tearing Iraq apart, but then people like me aren’t in charge of American policy. Kagan is, so let’s at least look at Iraq on Kagan’s terms.

In the last few days the Iraqi parliament has taken a monthlong recess without accomplishing anything. The steady drumbeat of violence and death goes on unabated. The main Sunni bloc has walked out of Maliki’s government. Reconstruction of the country has largely failed, leaving average Iraqis dramatically worse off than before we invaded.

Go read the entire thing. Fortunately John Cole infrequently reads his own blog and also posted on the subject in Paging Ken Pollack, also worth a read as he takes on O'Hanlon and Pollack of the Lieberman school of totally bat shit crazy neocons.