What's the plan?

Last we heard, the plan was to Vietnamize the Iraq war. In an ironic sense, they're doing a great job of that.

"U.S. officials said they once believed that if they empowered their Iraqi counterparts, they'd take the lead and do a better job of curtailing the violence. But they concede that's no longer their operating principle."

Seems the ARVN can't fight, or Charlie don't surf, or some such; but it certainly sounds like Vietnamization. And that wasn't such a roaring sucess. House of cards, actually.

So: Ok, Plan A is not working out so well. They're not standing up and we're not standing down. But at least US officials recognize the old plan isn't working. That much is progress. So what's the new plan?

"Many officials are vague about when the U.S. will know when troops can begin to return home. Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the U.S. is trying to buy 'time for the Iraqi government to provide the good governance and the economic activity that's required.' One State Department official, who also asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject, expressed the same sentiment in blunter terms. 'Our strategy now is to basically hold on and wait for the Iraqis to do something,' he said. "

[At this point, PAF takes a break for defibrilation - CLEAR: zot; cough, snort, hack; resume typing]

Keep doing what you're doing, even though it is demonstrably failing, and just hope for the best??

That's not a strategy; it's not even an acceptable fortune cookie slogan. (Be honest, you'd return that cookie, wouldn't you: "Could I have another fortune cookie please; this one is defective").

It's time to admit that military victory is not going to happen here. It's time to create the conditions for a political settlement. We need to set a timetable for withdrawal, bring the Sunni insurgents into talks with the Shiite dominated government, vigorously pursue regional negoitiations, and allow the people of the region to determine their own futures. The only thing standing between us and the end of the war is the unwillingness of our political leaders to admit their folly in launching this catastrophe.