The (Ex) Washington Realist

My first impression after reviewing today's testimony on the Hill from General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. Nothing unexpected, nothing dramatic, and, as Michael Abramowitz from the Washington Post aptly described it, an exercise in "kicking the can" down the road. Avoidance of saying that Iraqis have failed to meet benchmarks in favor of finding the good points to highlight; the sense that aw shucks the military and the diplomats are just trying to implement strategy, not craft the policy (isn't that your job here in Washington, anyway)?

All summer we were told that this was going to be a defining moment in the Iraq debate; now I assume we'll be waiting for the presidential primaries and for March 2008.