JTS: The purpose of the surge was NOT to end the war. It was designed to drastically reduce the violence with the hope that the Iraqi Parliament would get better organized and that the Sunnis might join Iraqi and coalition forces against al-Qaida. The surge was successful and the Iraqi Parliament has met all but three of the 18 original benchmarks set by the U.S. Congress last year to measure security, political and economic progress. The fact that the Sunnis turning against al-Qaida contributed greatly to the success of the surge is history.

The Arizona Republic, in it's Thursday edition, carried the New York Times Op-Ed written by Obama last week, and today the one they rejected written by Senator McCain. It's too bad the "Times" chose to show it's true colors (left-wing)and rejected McCain's article. It deserves to be read by anyone who wishes to read it.

DougR