re: goalpost shift.
From the Iraq Strategy Review:
The objectives in this new phase are:
1. Defeat al-Qaida and its supporters and ensure that no terrorist safe haven exists in Iraq.
2. Support Iraqi efforts to quell sectarian violence in Baghdad andregain control over the capital.
3. Ensure the territorial integrity of Iraq and counter/limit destructive Iranian and Syrian activity in Iraq.
4. Help safeguard democracy in Iraq by encouraging strong democratic institutions impartially serving all Iraqis and preventing the return of the forces of tyranny.
5. Foster the conditions for Iraqi national reconciliation but with the Iraqi Government clearly in the lead.
6. Continue to strengthen Iraqi Security Forces and accelerate the transition of security responsibility to the Iraqi Government.
7. Encourage an expanding Iraqi economy including by helping Iraq maintain and expand its export of oil to support Iraqi development.
8. Promote support for Iraq from its neighbors, the region, and the international community.
You can add to this the Democratic opposition in the early stages of the surge. Almost all of the complaints were about the perceived lack of violence reduction. Here's Harry Reid back when it was all about the violence. Only later did the "political progress" meme replace it.
Don't assume, like some people do, that I get my information from Rush Limbaugh. Particularly considering that some of those same people think Keith Olbermann is a genius.