Spencer Ackerman

General David Petraeus has a sterling reputation, the love of the press, and the adoration of the GOP. Don’t be surprised if a Democratic presidential win in ’08 starts an effort to recruit Petraeus as the Republican candidate in ’12.

With just days left before the deadline for the Article 140 referendum on who will control northern Iraq, both Kurds and Sunnis are pledging violence over the outcome.

Bush’s latest ploy in the war on terror is to recycle tactics from Iraq in Pakistan. But it’s unlikely that the strategy of allying with tribal figures against al-Qaeda will work in Pakistan — and it’s unclear whether it worked in Iraq.

Concerned Local Citizens groups represent the United States’ first attempt at actually creating Iraqi militias, and U.S. officials are enthusiastic about the effort. Few seem to have noticed the potential pitfalls.

There’s an opportunity for reconciliation and actual statecraft right now in Iraq. It remains to be seen if the United States will take advantage of it.

Ricardo Sanchez’s mishandling of the Iraq War during his year as ground commander is legend. It should come as no surprise, then, that his recent account of who’s to blame for Iraq is so bitter and distorted.

Last week’s intense focus on whether the surge was working obscured the real Bush agenda — a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq.

Petraeus describes the Iraq War as a war of figurative inches. Before Congress, he’s likely to emphasize these smaller achievements instead of the bigger picture — which is unquestionably bleak.