Months in the making, the assessment says that growing and entrenched polarization between Shia and Sunni Muslims, inadequate Iraqi security forces, weak leaders, and the success of extremists' efforts to use violence to exacerbate the sectarian war all create a situation that will be difficult to improve.
This is entirely consistent with my recent Iraq assessment. And it does not say we have been losing the war or haven't made progress. The new problems we must face do not reverse the real achievements we've made in Iraq already. They are simply new problems to overcome.
We are in a new phase of the war and we must adjust to this new situation to defeat the latest challenges to victory.
Get a grip out there. Stop looking for excuses to retreat! Work the damn problem!
Patton's arm would be tired slapping all the people who need slapping today.
