The biggest problem for our war aims in Iraq is that after the election, the enemy knows all they have to do is hold on and they will win. In the form of those who took the trouble to show up, a plurality of US electorate surrendered and the Democrats are playing it for all it is worth.
The biggest problem for our war aims in Iraq is that after the election, the enemy knows all they have to do is hold on and they will win.The enemy know if they hold on they'll be fighting Iraqi forces, ultimately wheter they win depends on Iraq, but you're right, timetables, and a "surge" implies a timetable since "surges" end, are counterproductive. But if we said we'd stay till the job was done, say a decade, no one would believe us. After all, we wouldn't stay a decade in Korea would we?