Sludge

If success is measured by a decrease in violence, then why are we asked to anticipate more US casualties during the course of the surge? Surely the equation was; more troops = less violence not more troops = more troop deaths. For me, the natural conclusion is more troop deaths = more violence.

Oh! but wait, we are not fully deployed yet and won't be for another two months. Now, call me a naysayer or a traitor or whatever epithet de jour is popular in wingnut circles right now but is the military telling us that it is going to take up to six months just to deploy the 25,000 or so troops to the theater. Two things, how long did it take us to get the original invasion force into the theater? And, the Generals will have had their surge in full effect for just one month before they have to report to the preznit, congress and the American people, what sort of progress are they going to report on? I suppose getting all the soldiers and stuff into the field will be some kind of achievement.

September is a mirage.