War is peace, loss is gain

If Bush plans to stay the course with his favorite soporific: "when the Iraqis stand up, we'll stand down," it looks like the troops are in for a lot more standing up. Also known as getting killed.

Laura Rozen writes: "Gen. George Casey testifies today that 'the number of Iraqi battalions capable of fighting without American support has dropped from three to one.'"

Casey then provides this head-scratcher: "Have we lost ground? Absolutely not." Or maybe it's better understood as a "backscratcher."

And then to further muddy the issue: Why are there so few battle-ready Iraqi battalions (which clearly is, what, some kind of victory?)? Because we have such high standards:

"Casey said the Pentagon’s standard for what constitutes a fully capable Iraqi battalion is high and that it’s been difficult to ensure logistical support for Iraqi units. 'I understand what you’re saying, how it could be perceived as disappointing...'"