Meanwhile .....

As everyone predicted, the surge is an escalation. It's also an escalation without end:

This “second surge” of troops in Iraq, which is being executed by extending tours for brigades already there and by deploying more units, could boost the number of combat troops to as many as 98,000 (from 52,500) by the end of this year. When support troops are included, the total number of U.S. troops in Iraq could increase from 162,000 now to more than 200,000 — the most ever — by the end of the year.

That son-of-a-bitch in the Oval office lies as well as he talks.