Roguely Stated

Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, will brief Congress on September 11th regarding the situation on the ground in Iraq according to Think Progress. FP’s Passport notes the highly unusual timing of the briefing:

Nothing says “we need to continue the surge” like reminding Americans that Saddam planned 9/11. Somewhere, Karl Rove must be laughing.

While Gen Petraeus may brief on Sept 11th, what he will say (and what will be in the official report) is open to speculation. Julian E. Barnes writes in the LA Times:

Administration and military officials acknowledge that the September report will not show any significant progress on the political benchmarks laid out by Congress. How to deal in the report with the lack of national reconciliation between Iraq’s warring sects has created some tension within the White House.

Despite Bush’s repeated statements that the report will reflect evaluations by Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, administration officials said it would actually be written by the White House, with inputs from officials throughout the government.

And though Petraeus and Crocker will present their recommendations on Capitol Hill, legislation passed by Congress leaves it to the president to decide how to interpret the report’s data.

If Barnes’ interpretation is correct, then expect the September report to look much like the previous one.

For some other opinions on the success, or lack thereof, of “the surge” - check out Foreign Policy’s Terrorism Index (page 2 - The Failing Surge), this recent Op-ed in the NYT from some soldiers in the 82nd Airborne Division involved in the operation, or this commentary from Kenneth Pollack and the Council on Foreign Relations.