It's a total mess
The solution is actually pretty simple...we need more troops...not our own, but a true international presence. In a country of 26 million people where 60% support attacks on our soldiers, 140,000 troops is effectively peanuts.
What's going on though is Bush is attempting to wait it out through the end of his term and then hand the mess over to someone else to fix. That's why he needs his Republican sycophants in Congress...so he doesn't get forced to make changes in what is for him a no-win situation.