It doesn't matter how effective Petraeus is at killing Al-Quaeda thugs, we can't leave the country until the local government is capable of running the show without us. And that is not happening. Not even close. Petraeus is not lying, it's just that what he's saying doesn't matter. This is no longer an Al-Quaeda party, if it ever was. All they did was precipitate the civil war we refused to recognize was happening. Remember that great debate?

Even if we could suddenly make all the Al-Quaeda go away with some magic spell, there would still be Sunnis vs Shias, Arabs vs Kurds, gangsters and tribal conflicts, multiple warring militias, and outside meddlling from the Syrians and Iranians, and probably the Saudis and Turks as well. This part of the world is setting itself up for the final solution of the Sunni/Shia problem and the Arab/Persian problem and the Kurd/everyoneelse problem and there ain't a damned thing we can do to stop it, or the Iraqi civil war that is going on on top of it right now.

As for the much-vaunted withdrawal they keep promising, that's going to go down anyway, no matter what happens, because the military is consuming human resources faster than we can replace them. The so-called surge benefits that will supposedly make it happen are just a smokescreen for what has to happen regardless. The surge strategy might have worked if it had been implemented two or three years ago, but Mr Rumsfeld refused to hear it and the conservatives just couldn't say no to him, could they? Remember THAT great debate? Trust us, they said, we know what we're doing. Well, at least that part of their plan hasn't changed. Remember how any criticism of the administration plan was summarily dismissed as treason, cowardice and stupidity, at least until just after the election?

The Bush gang has only one priority right now: prolong the war as long as possible so the next president will have to take the heat for whatever happens. Bush and his apologists know that even if they're right they can't wrap this up on his watch, so the plan is to let someone else take the fall for it. They know perfectly well it's going to take time to conduct an orderly withdrawal (6 months to a year) and that by the middle of next year it will be set up so whatever catatstrophe occurs will not be on their watch, but America will still be stuck in the middle of it. This is a policy of almost inconceivable cynicism and betrayal. I just hope that if we're still in Iraq in 2009, the Republicans are still in the White House. This is their war and they deserve to be present at the conclusion.

It's been six years today since the attack on the twin towers, and Americans are still dying for nothing.