Surge Smurge

David Cloud and Damien Cave's NY Times article reveals that the "surge" isn't working at the rate the military would have hoped for by this point. This is partly due to the fact that they are relying on Iraqi Security Forces (an oxymoron if ever there was one) to do their part.

In an interview, [Brig. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, the deputy commander of the First Cavalry Division,] said that while military planners had expected to make greater gains by now, that has not been possible in large part because Iraqi police and army units, which were expected to handle basic security tasks, like manning checkpoints and conducting patrols, have not provided all the forces promised, and in some cases have performed poorly.

...When planners devised the Baghdad security plan late last year, they had assumed most Baghdad neighborhoods would be under control around July, according to a senior American military officer, so the emphasis could shift into restoring services and rebuilding the neighborhoods as the summer progressed.

“We were way too optimistic,” said the officer, adding that September is now the goal for establishing basic security in most neighborhoods, the same month that Bush administration officials have said they plan to review the progress of the plan.

At this point, only about one-third of Iraqi neighborhoods are under American and Iraqi control, because troops have either not begun operations aimed at rooting out insurgents or still face resistance in the remaining 311 out of 457 neighborhoods.

You know what that means: come September, when General Petraeus delivers his assessment, and when the revolting Republicans (take that meaning either way) had said that September was their deadline for their support, Chimpy will once again demand more time... and in all probability will get it from Congressional Republican sheep and spineless Democrats.