Admiral William Fallon, appointed by Secretary Gates, is the Pentagon man whom General Patraeous reports directly. 

I didn't know that. It sure seemed like Patraeous reported directly to the president.  Maybe I'm not smart enough, but I'm thinking Patraeous was purposely presented this way because Patraeous is Bush's front man on the positive spin. 

Admiral Fallon has given his preliminary report on Iraq.  And it is really amazing.  Here's a couple exerts:

Fallon thinks the Iraqi government is a complete failure, unable to provide even the easiest of solutions and, even to the point that they have no intention of creating a political solution because it is not in their personal best interest.  (Bush addressed the Iraqi people in his speech .... apparently he is not aware they only have electricity about 20% of the day .... and that's on a good day.)

Fallon thinks we need to redeploy and return home 2/3rds of our current troops and have that completed by next spring.  Now that would be 2/3rds of all our the troops - all 168,000 of them.

Fallon thinks that neither the Iraqi government (or our own diplomats) have made any progress.  The Sunni tribal leader directly responsible for some peace in Al Anbar Province was just murdered.  The oil sharing agreements between the Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites is falling apart before it even gets started.  And just so we know how twisted the oil sharing nonsense is - the Kurdish regional government signed its own agreement with the Dallas branch of Hunt Oil - which is owned by Ray Hunt, who is a Bushie friend and good ole boy - or should we say "good oil boy."

Fallon is reporting we are bogged down in Iraq, which is NOT the central front of Al Qeida.  Only 5% of the violence in Iraq is Al Qeida related.  The rest is the fight between the Sunnis and Shiites.  And as stated over and over and over - this is a civil war that our troops cannot win. 

And Fallon thinks Patraeous is a kiss up.  Surprise, surprise, surprise.

How unfair of Bush to say to our troops that they can "return on success," when there can be no success in this brutal civil war that has a history of many hundreds of years. 

And the corker is the House Republican Leader (John Baynor) today is quoted as saying, "this is a small price to pay." 

I think the entire families of Bush, Cheney, McCain, Giuliani, and Baynor should be deployed to Iraq and not allowed to return until there is a democratic government that can govern itself, sustain itself and police itself.

And I can't help but wonder, where is our top diplomat at the State Department, Dr. Condi Rice?  Since people are dying, shouldn't she be front and center and working - like overtime - in helping to create a political solution?

According to General Petraeus, because the serge is working, we can start sending our troops home and that would be 30,000 by next June.  Here are a few problems with this seriously demented logic.

First: the serge was needed to secure Baghdad.  Remember?  So we could give alMaliki breathing room to create a political solution. Dear General; we can remember back to this past spring.  So Anwar Province is more secure but Baghdad continues to be a mess.  And the Iraqi politicians went on vacation because, well, apparently it's really hot in Iraq in August, so no political solutions have been acheived.  So, by the standards set by yourself and Bush, the serge is most certainly not a success.

Second problem:  if the serge was working but the work designated for the serge was seriously incomplete, why would we reduce our serge efforts?  Successful efforts, in my experience, are continued until finished.  Well, as most of us know - the troops can't be sustained any longer than next April so we are given this fairy tale instead.  Apparently, General Patraeus, you were able to fool only our idiot president, or was this his logic?

Third:  Let me get this one correct as presented ..... Hooray for us, the serge is working and as a gift to our military and their families they will draw down troops ..... to the level they were at prior to the serge.  And I just love this, they'll bring home those troops in total by June 2008, when originally the serge was to last til fall of 2007.  The remaining 138,000 troops will stay in Iraq for an undetermined period of time because, well, there is no plan past the fabulous serge.

Fourth:  Dear General Patraeus ..... shame, shame, shame:  Your bringing home troops at the end of this month (one battalion) because the serge is working?  Don't present information in a light that is flat out twisted  .... those troops had been scheduled to come home for several weeks prior to your decision and your presentation of September 11th.  And saying, "well, I could have kept them longer," doesn't excuse this lie in sheep's clothing.

Fifth: It is clear to me that this administration and his recently appointed generals, judge us by their own IQ standard

Sixth:  How dare you present this "report" on and around 9/11.  The Iraqi war has nothing to do with this tragedy and this scheduling makes you look manipulative.  This timing was no accident.

This pure, undiluted crap, wrapped in a gold package (and I mean real gold worth several hundred billion dollars) and tied with a pretty ribbon still stinks up the joint. 

I'm exhausted - I'm angry - I'm feeling helpless and defeated.

What did you find wrong with the general's presentation?