(I culled these paragraphs from two recent Washington Post articles. All emphasis and sarcasm is mine.)
Asserting steady, albeit slow, military and political progress, (Gen. David H.) Petraeus said that the "many, many challenges" would not be resolved "in a year or even two years." Similar counterinsurgency operations, he said, citing Britain's experience in Northern Ireland, "have gone at least nine or 10 years."
(Britain's experience in Northern Ireland consisted of nine or 10 years, General? Absolutely right, aside from being completely free of facts. What astounding ignorance!) Moving along…
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and White House spokesman Tony Snow both recently made comments indicating that the administration is thinking along the same lines as military officials here. Snow has likened the possible long-term mission of U.S. troops in Iraq to the protective role American forces have played in South Korea since the end of the Korean War 54 years ago.
So, we’re talking about another 10-50 years in Iraq, and the low end of the range stems from Petraeus’ completely bogus analogy based on his stunning ignorance of the history of Northern Ireland.
This being the case, waiting for Petraeus to submit his report in September serves what purpose?
Darn, I must stop posing those rhetorical questions.